By Mike Sunnucks | Rose Law Group Reporter
The City of Mesa is looking at expanding a program that allowed restaurants to offer outdoor seating to more businesses including shops and gyms.
The Mesa City Council will consider a proposal at its meeting on Monday, Feb. 8, to allow the city manager to suspend and modify city codes to allow for local businesses to use outdoor spaces in order to comply with COVID-19 orders and social distancing needs.
“This resolution allows modifications to City Codes to facilitate temporary expansions that will allow an increase in customers while complying with the emergency procedures. This resolution is modeled after the highly successful Mesa Al Fresco program, adopted in September, which helped restaurants and bars expand their services outdoors,” according to city officials.
Mesa and other jurisdictions across the state and country have adjusted codes to allow restaurants to use outdoor spaces including parking lots, sidewalks and parking lanes.
Mesa is also considering launching a similar quick application and approval process to the one used for its Al Fresco restaurant program.
“The goal is to approve requests within two-to-four days,” according to the proposal before the Mesa council.
