Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass extends popular ‘Al Fresco’ sidewalk cafe rules

On a recent afternoon, Camila Perry was walking around the parking lot behind The Oaks Tavern bar and restaurant in Sherman Oaks, holding a measuring tape.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, she has been using the parking lot for outdoor restaurant tables covered by a tent. But now, to continue using the City of Los Angeles “Al Fresco” program, she has to send the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety her plan for the parking lot, along with other documentation.

“For me, that was … part of the frustrating issue, because I was not building anything,” Perry said. But under the city’s new rule, “I still need to draw two plans and have everything measured out” if she wants to keep her outdoor tent in place.

Perry is among more than 3,000 business owners in L.A., from the San Fernando Valley in the north to San Pedro in the south who took advantage of the city’s Al Fresco program at the beginning of the pandemic and now scramble to get a permanent permit by December 31 to keep using sidewalks and parking lots adjacent to their businesses.

On Tuesday, July 30, the office of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass announced that the city would extend the deadline to the end of the year, giving a break to business owners who are required to apply for permits for outdoor dining as part of the Al Fresco program.

Bass urged city departments to ease the transition for restaurants that have used the temporary COVID rules for four years, to the city’s new permanent rules for restaurant tables in parking lots and on sidewalks and assist business owners like Perry dealing with the city’s cumbersome application process.

“We want restaurants and businesses to thrive in Los Angeles,” Bass said in a statement. “It is with that commitment that I am announcing an extension to the deadline for businesses to transition to the permanent Al Fresco program, which carries forward the spirit of this vital program. I want to encourage businesses that still hold temporary permits to apply today. The city is ready to assist you.”

Los Angeles launched its COVID-era Al Fresco program during the pandemic in 2020 to assist thousands of small business owners and boost economic vitality when widespread fear kept many customers from dining indoors.

The city launched a streamlined process for restaurant owners to receive permits for outdoor dining on sidewalks and in parking lots. More than 3,000 restaurants across took advantage of the program, according to Mary Nemick, a spokeswoman with the city’s Bureau of Engineering.

The program was so popular that the Los Angeles City Council voted last year to make it permanent.

Initially, restaurant owners had until July 31 to replace their temporary permits and obtain permanent ones. However, some restaurant owners struggled to meet the deadline as said the application process created serious barriers and it took them months to apply for new permits as rules and guidelines had changed.

But now, to help small business owners, the mayor’s office will work with city departments to make processing applications easy and transparent.

The city departments that assist small businesses with the Al Fresco program have agreed to review and process all completed applications within 30 days of the date of submission. The departments will also participate in webinars, virtual meetings, or application clinics to assist project applicants and restaurant owners with Al Fresco guidelines to troubleshoot project and site plan issues, according to the mayor’s office.

Businesses now have until December 31 to file their applications.