Eating out in NT: City expedites outdoor arrangements

Jun. 15--Since Western New York entered Phase 2 of the New York state reopening plan, local eateries have been allowed to have outdoor dining, because restaurants are not able to seat them indoors. In North Tonawanda, though, these regulations have been shaped differently than those in other communities. City officials have made it easy for this to happen.

Austin Tylec, a member of the North Tonawanda Common Council, said the process normally takes longer. Restaurants would have to obtain permits, pay numerous fees, and wait for various approvals to add outdoor dining spaces. For time's sake, these approvals are at the discretion of the building inspector.

"Anyone that would be looking to have outdoor seating, they would contact the building inspector, Cosimo Capozzi," Tylec said. "They would need a liability insurance certificate. Also, with the City of North Tonawanda as an additionally insurer, we would request a detailed floor plan with the dimensions, the location of the tables, and really, a lot of these requirements are listed on the New York state website."

Other things required by the city is at least a three-foot minimum for pedestrians to be able to walk while the outdoor seating does take place. Tylec said some people could have tents if they wanted but on private, not public property. Any business owner can take advantage of this program until Nov. 1, after which they would have to follow the regular process. Tylec said this is being done simply to allow businesses to start making money again.

He added this will allow people to start going outside again with safety measure in place, and to allow business to begin recovering from losses sustained due to stay-at-home orders. One question that has been raised is about how the regulations will be enforced.

"Every week, the rules seem to change, which makes it incredibly difficult to enforce anything," Tylec said. "How does anyone know what's going on? ... I think the state recognized that it's difficult for many municipalities to enforce a lot of this and put teeth in it. And, now they're going around and doing it for us."

Tylec does want people to inform the Niagara County Health Department of any violations in the regulations or improper social distancing. Some of the other challenges in getting these regulations going for restaurants have been the ever-changing rules regarding this as well. Another challenge has been the ongoing construction in downtown North Tonawanda, which was delayed due to the pandemic.

Once the construction got the go ahead to continue, though, they were already several weeks behind. The construction has become a moderate inconvenience for both business owners and residents. The project will be making the area walkable. Congestion that has been caused by the construction should be gone in the coming weeks but the timeline has changed quite a bit. There are bump-outs being added onto the sidewalk with a focus on Fleischman Park, but the entire project should be done by July.

"The main theme of the project is creating a pedestrian walkable environment," Tylec said. "I reference those bump out areas. What they do is make it easier to cross. It's less about cars getting by and traffic, and its more about this idea that people can slow down, enjoy the local businesses that are there, and hopefully stimulate that economic growth down there that we've had fo the last two years. It's the idea that were creating more public space and more public interaction for the community."

During these times, the Common Council, Mayor and City Engineer are trying to keep on top of resident concerns regarding the construction. Some of the feedback and reactions from the community have been mostly curiosity. Tylec said a lengthy. Community engagement process occurred before the construction began.

Walkability was found to be one of the biggest issues to tackle but there was an easy feedback process. People were heard on this as there were many options considered for what could be done. A lot of what people wanted to see has been included in the project, though it will be some time before it reaches completion.

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