The City Council’s Planning & Land Use Management Committee (PLUM) voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to recommend approval of the updated Al Fresco Ordinance. A vote has already been scheduled for today (Dec. 6) by the full City Council.
Assuming the council votes in favor of the revised ordinance (and there’s been little opposition to the current version of the ordinance) it should arrive on Mayor Bass’ desk in time for her to sign it before the annual winter break at City Hall. That means the ordinance would become the new rules for outdoor dining by the end of January.
The speedy approval and universal support is in sharp contrast to last spring, when City Planning first proposed an Al Fresco Ordinance.
The first draft wasn’t well received by the restaurant industry (read “‘Sucker punch’ proposal could doom outdoor dining” in LA Times for summary of the issues.).
The Planning Department regrouped, rewrote and released a new version. This one was better received by the restaurant industry (and their customers) and earlier this year, both the City Planning Commission in April and City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management committee in June voted to endorse the new regulations.
The final version has some minor modifications from the summer draft, namely the prohibition of background music as an ancillary by-right use for outdoor dining areas.
