BON APPETIT! LA MESA EXTENDS OUTDOOR DINING UNTIL JULY 2022

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By Miriam Raftery

Photo by Miriam Raftery: Outdoor dining at Antica Trattoria in La Mesa

July 15, 2021 (La Mesa) – Expanding onto sidewalks and parking lots provided salvation to many local restaurants and shops during the pandemic, when indoor dining was banned or capacity limited.

To help local businesses recover financially over the next year, La Mesa’s City Council recently voted to extend temporary outdoor permits in public spaces for restaurants and stores through July 16, 2022.

The action followed a similar decision by the San Diego City Council and responded to a letter from the La Mesa Village Association, which represents merchants in the city’s historic downtown village. That letter asked the city to extend outdoor permits, noting that these have helped stabilize businesses “during times of economic and emotional distress and uncertainty.”

La Mesa Chamber of Commerce President Mary England thanked city officials for allowing outdoor dining, stating in a letter, ““They have all shown that they can be creative, and have developed various ways to serve their customers in an outdoor setting. Continuing to be able to do so will make a significant impact on their economic recovery from the pandemic.”

 

City Manager Greg Humor extended the order for a year on June 15 and the City Council affirmed that decision by a unanimous vote at the next meeting.

The action also aids patrons of restaurants, who may prefer to continue dining outdoors to lessen the risk of contracting COVID-19, now that the state has lifted capacity limits for indoor dining.

Some want the city to go farther; Councilman Colin Parent has asked staff to weight options to make outdoor dining permanent.


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Comments

this is good

lets hope they can find a way to make it permanent where possible.