PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The city of Philadelphia announced new regulations and a new application process this month for streeteries. Business owners with outdoor dining structures extending into street parking spaces will now have to submit permits to make them permanent.
The first list of regulations for permanent streeteries in Philadelphia was released by the city back in February, but Ben Fileccia, with the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, said restaurant owners complained that they were too restrictive.
For example, he explained, there was a recommendation that outdoor structures would have to be removed in inclement weather. "We showed that in 2021, there were 2,600 episodes of inclement weather in the Philadelphia region," said Fileccia, "so that just wasn't something that was reasonable."
The city was also asking for a $60,000 bond, "that a lot of restaurants right now, when they're still struggling, couldn't afford."
Fileccia said the city listened to Philadelphia's restaurant owners and made impressive adjustments to the regulations. "They really took the feedback to heart," he said, adding the PRLA is happy with many of the changes.
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The application process for businesses to make their streeteries permanent will open up in November.
"For the next month or so the city's gonna do some educational webinars and some one-on-one with some restaurant owners to make sure they're up to code," Fileccia said.
But not everyone who applies could get approved. Beth Amadio of Cotoletta Fitler Square has a streetery made from a shipping container. "We spent, actually close to seven months getting approved. It cost me a lot of money and a lot of time," she said. "They asked me to take it down and I appealed it."
Structures with a roof and walls have to undergo extra approvals from the Philadelphia Art Commission and Department of Licenses and Inspections. Also, streeteries have to comply with state traffic codes.
"There was a film crew on our street over the summer and they were parked on the other side of the sidewalk and I think that set off a motion of issues," said Amadio.
There is no word yet on when enforcement of the new regulations will begin.