The DC Council’s more lenient new “emergency legislation” on streateries may have come too late to save some of the city’s outdoor dining sheds. But many restaurateurs say it’s a step in the right direction, and increases the possibility that they’ll retain or rebuild their streateries.
When a group of restaurateurs fiercely criticized the DC Department of Transportation’s new streatery rules last month, the council appeared sympathetic. Council member Charles Allen came to the conclusion that DDOT’s guidelines, which barred enclosed dining sheds and levied a $20-per-square-foot cost on the previously free structures, threatened to put an end to the streatery era in DC.
Allen’s emergency amendment, which the council passed unanimously this week, lowers the cost per square foot to $15 and gives the Public Space Committee more leeway to allow structures that are enclosed and winterized. It also gives restaurants a clear date for the start of enforcement: January 15. The legislation supersedes DDOT’s rules—and even if it’s vetoed by mayor Muriel Bowser, who opposed it, the council could override her.
For some restaurants, though, the move came too late. Le Diplomate had already taken down its outdoor dining “chalet,” though the restaurant told Axios it was “keeping the door open” to a rebuild. Rosemary Bistro, a lonely streatery holdout on upper Connecticut Avenue, looked denuded last week without its ramshackle green structure. Owner Frederic Darricarrere had defended his streatery for five years in a former rush-hour lane, withstanding a battle with his neighbors, but the DDOT rules killed it. Darricarrere says he’d consider installing a new structure, but feels uncertain.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Darricarrere says. “We never know with DC.”
In some ways, the council’s legislation simply kicks the can further down the road, giving restaurants more time and leeway to decide what to do about their streateries.
“We’re still in a wait-and-see type of scenario,” says Daniel Kramer, who has submitted an application to keep his streatery at Duke’s Grocery on 17th Street, NW. “Now that there’s greater flexibility in how they review it, that’s a good thing.”
But Allen’s office acknowledges that many owners had already hedged their bets by proactively removing their sheds in response to the earlier rules. “Unfortunately for us, the timing wasn’t ideal for when we could pass legislation intervening,” says Erik Salmi, Allen’s deputy chief of staff.
Plus, when the council voted on Allen’s emergency legislation on Tuesday, there was an added wrinkle. Council member Brooke Pinto, whose Ward 2 constituency includes Georgetown’s many streateries and their many critics, inserted an amendment that requires review of a streatery’s permit every two years, in addition to the yearly permit renewal already required. Allen’s office says the amendment is redundant and “trying to create public input for a process that already has public input,” which could add unnecessary red tape.
The Green Zone, an Adams Morgan cocktail bar, will have to remove its streatery soon regardless because of Pepco work on 18th Street. Owner Chris Hassaan Francke says this gives them a grace period to come to a decision about whether—and how—to rebuild.
Just figuring all of this out is a full-time job, Francke says, but he’s hopeful about the council legislation and glad he didn’t jump the gun and remove his streatery.
“I do see this as a move in the right direction,” Francke says. “In the last month there have been so many changes. This gives us time to see what is happening in the rest of the city before we make any final decision.”
Ike Allen covers politics, food, culture, and transportation in DC and writes the monthly Hidden Eats column for the magazine. He grew up in DC.
