Malibu council serves expanded dining options to restaurants
Michele Willer-Allred, Staff Reporter
12:36 pm PDT June 9, 2020
Restaurants in Malibu will be allowed to temporarily expand outdoors and in other areas not typically used for dining under an urgency ordinance approved by the City Council on Monday.
The measure, supported by all five council members, is intended to help businesses struggling under COVID-19 restrictions. It allows restaurants to use common areas inside and outside as well as parking lots for food service.
Mayor Karen Farrer praised the move.
“Businesses everywhere are just getting killed,” she said. “I believe we all want to see anything done that we can to help our local businesses.”
An application would first need to be submitted by the restaurant owner and be reviewed by the city to make sure the temporary plan complies with public safety rules.
The ordinance is part of the city’s temporary restaurant recovery program, which will allow restaurants in Malibu to offer more dining options than they otherwise would under Los Angeles County’s Public Health orders.
Staff said it could also increase the city’s sales tax revenue, which has gone down because of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders.
Since Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in March, restrictions are being eased and continuously changing in accordance with the county.
As of May 29, the county moved into advance Stage 2, which allows the reopening of restaurants for in-person dining with restrictions, including capacity limitations and physical distancing requirements.
City Manager Reva Feldman said many restaurants have had to eliminate existing seating and tables to comply with the county rules.
Feldman said the ordinance is similar to what many other cities have done.
“In most cities they can expand into public right of ways and public parking spaces,” Feldman said.
She added that in Malibu, expansion of restaurants would end up in common areas, so the application to the city would also require approval and sign-off from the landlord. The permit can also be terminated by the city for violation of rules or disturbance to nearby residents.
She said that allowing restaurants to expand in this manner could affect parking, but that demand for parking is down right now and will continue to be “because people just aren’t out and about as much.”
Feldman said that as soon as the county lifts restrictions and regular activities can resume, restaurants will have 72 hours to remove the outdoor seating that was allowed under the urgency ordinance.
The ordinance does not allow restaurants to add seating. For instance, if a restaurant is only allowed 20 seats under its existing permit, it would only be allowed 20 seats under the ordinance.
Council member Jefferson Wagner said that to help prevent liability issues, he wanted to make sure that the ordinance didn’t allow tables and seating to extend out past bollards, which are barriers that help control vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
Assistant City Attorney Trevor Rusin said he appreciated Wagner bringing up the bollard issue, because parking and circulation are definitely important in how any restaurant space is expanded.
Rusin did say that every situation is unique, and the ordinance will allow the city to have the ability to impose conditions based on each restaurant’s particular circumstance.
Mayor Pro Tem Mikke Pierson said he reached out to several restaurants in Malibu to share the agenda item, and the response by owners was appreciative that the city was doing this.