Philly Sidewalk Cafes Accused of Hogging the Sidewalk

Who doesn’t love eating al fresco? There’s something thrilling about eating outdoors, which is why we love picnics and cookouts so much. It’s even better when someone else is doing the food prep and clean up for you, explaining the proliferation of outdoor seating at many restaurants, cafes, and other eateries in Philadelphia and everywhere else. Cafes in Philly, however, stand accused of hogging the sidewalk. According to Philly CBS3, the city controller Alan Butkovitz says that seating areas at sidewalk eateries are taking up more than their fair share of the right of way. Moreso, he says, violators should face stiffer fines and penalties than they currently do.

Sidewalk cafes are cute and a nice way to enjoy the fall weather, but what about establishments that take up too much of the right of way?

Butkovitz told the news station that his office has visited over 400 restaurants with outdoor seating in the City of Brotherly Love, and he found that around a third of them were in some kind of violation. The cafes have to have permits to have seating on the sidewalk. Some of the violations included “expired permits, furniture placed over ventilation grates, at curbside, or occupying more than half the sidewalk.”

“The city of Philadelphia has spent millions of dollars cutting out sidewalk corners so that people in wheelchairs, people with baby carriages, people with disabilities can cross at intersections,” Butkovitz said. And now, those same people can’t get down the block.”

There are penalties in place for violators of the rules governing outdoor seating, says Butkovitz, but he believes that they are too low to effectively prohibit cafes from flouting regulations. He points to the city of Sarasota, which remedies the situation by hauling away the furniture of offenders.

That might be a bit harsh, opines Pat O’Donnell, of the Philadelphia Streets Department Right-of-Way Unit, the division that enforces sidewalk cafe rules and regulations. He’s in favor of higher fines and licensing fees, along with “cease” orders for establishments found to be in habitual noncompliance, but feels that tossing furniture is a “bit much.”