CAPE MAY – As restaurants in Cape May contemplate plans for a new summer season, City Council Feb. 1 discussed the topic of outdoor dining.
Mayor Zack Mullock acknowledged that expanded outdoor dining was a hit with the public when the pandemic forced more activity outside.
With special Covid exceptions now largely expired, the question before council was what, if any, action should the council take to facilitate outdoor dining beyond the pathways available in the existing city ordinance contained in section 412 of the municipal code.
Deputy Mayor Stacy Sheehan argued that the process of going through full Planning or Zoning board approvals for site plan changes should not be interfered with.
She cited a need to ensure that parking spaces are not lost to outdoor dining and that neighbors in areas where restaurants abut residential areas had a right to voice their opposition to any outdoor dining plans.
Issues involving the different circumstances of commercial zone and residential area establishments were important elements in Sheehan’s argument.
The current ordinance offers an alternative pathway through a process of submission of a site plan to the city’s zoning officer, as long as the establishment is not adding more seats than have been approved in its license, not impacting parking spaces, and not impeding circulation.
“If they have the room to reallocate seating on the site,” they can use the procedure outlined in the current ordinance, was the message from Solicitor Christopher Gillin-Schwartz.
He noted that outdoor dining was already a permitted use in the commercial zone.
After discussion, the council decided that no change to the existing ordinance was necessary at this time.
“Our guidance to restaurant owners is to follow the existing ordinance,” Mullock said.
