Plans to bring outdoor dining back to Moody Street heat up
Restaurants may be back outside on Moody Street this summer.
That’s the message from the City Council, which on Monday received a resolution supporting a repeat of the city’s outdoor dining program last summer.
The resolution stated the program was “well-received by both the public and business owners” and pressed for the city to undertake the same program again.
The resolution also suggested that the council amend current ordinances to create a more streamlined application process for restaurants and retail outlets to participate.
The outdoor dining program originated from a pandemic-era initiative which closed much of Moody Street to vehicle traffic during the warmer months and allowed restaurants and retail shops to expand onto the street.
The city stopped closing the street in 2024 but continued to allow outdoor dining by letting restaurants expand onto sidewalks and cordoned-off parking spaces.
After advocates urged the city to expand the initiative, government leaders commissioned a study examining options for Moody Street’s future, including closing the street full time. The study was released in October 2024 but the Planning Department has taken no action on it since receiving it last summer.
Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris, who introduced the resolution to support outdoor dining, said she would appear at the March Traffic Commission meeting to seek approval to open applications for outdoor dining.
The council voted to send the resolution to the Licenses and Franchises Committee, which Harris said has helped businesses navigate the application process in previous years.
This resolution additionally tied the outdoor dining program to the city’s general support of small businesses, committing to “supporting local businesses and enhancing the city’s economic vitality by ensuring the success of outdoor dining.”
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Dear Heather,
Excellent commentary all around.
Thx.
Unfortunately, outdoor dining with the street still open is the worst of both worlds – crowded and difficult to navigate sidewalks, *and* an unpleasant eating environment. A friend and I went to lunch on Moody Street during one of the summers when this arrangement was in place and spent an hour trying to enjoy our meal while cars and trucks buzzed by just a few feet away, spewing exhaust into the air and over our food and creating too much noise to allow for pleasant conversation. Now if I want to eat outdoors in the summer, I’ll drive somewhere where I know I will be able to enjoy the meal, even though I live in walking distance of Moody Street.
With plenty of parking just steps away from Moody Street, the fuss raised by a small number of business owners claiming that they wouldn’t have business if people couldn’t park right in front of their stores (forget that parking spots on Moody are nearly impossible to get at busy times anyway, and ignore the hundreds or thousands of people that would be strolling past right outside on a pedestrianized street rather than speeding by in cars too quickly to notice their establishments) that led to the abandonment of the pandemic-era full street closure was absolutely unfounded, and yet now we are stuck with this sad halfway arrangement that, like so many other city decisions, will drive people and their business to surrounding towns that take a truly modern approach.