Fairfax Co. leaders support restaurants to continue pandemic-era outdoor dining

A proposal has been put out in Fairfax County, Virginia, to allow restaurants that moved their operations outside in response to the pandemic to continue serving their patrons in the open air. If the plan is approved, these restaurants would be allowed to do so.

During a meeting of the Land Use Policy Committee that took place the week before last, members of the board of supervisors voiced their support for maintaining outdoor dining beyond the local emergency declaration that was put in place at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March of 2020.

The board of supervisors would have to pass an amendment to the zoning rule that would create an administrative permit for outdoor eating establishments that do not comply with the requirements of the current zoning legislation in order for the business to continue to operate outside. The permission would impose restrictions on the location, the hours, and the length of time that it is valid for. The board will be given the opportunity to vote on the change within the grace period of one year that follows the declaration of a state of emergency.

Zoning Administrator Leslie Johnson said that one of the benefits of being able to renew a permit is that the county can keep better track of things in case the conditions of the situation change.

Penny Gross, the District Supervisor for the Mason community, was the one who brought up the subject of noise. She said that there should be information about how loud it is to eat outside.

“We owe it to the residents nearby” to have some protection for the “social noises” outdoor dining could bring.

According to Johnson, there is a different regulation that governs activities that take place in public.

James Walkinshaw, the supervisor for the Braddock District, said that it would be necessary to provide clear communication on the rules of smoking outside, using the example of whether or not smoking would be permitted beneath a tent. And Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay wanted more information on shopping centers applying for an administrative permit that would cover restaurant tenants.

Since the emergency legislation was passed at the beginning of the epidemic, there have been 91 eateries that have offered eating outside. According to a presentation that was given to the committee, as of September 1, there are only five restaurants that make use of outdoor eating sets in parking lots.

Additionally, the next steps for outdoor eating in the county are being investigated by Arlington. It is doing a review of its existing norms and standards for outdoor eating in order to come up with a means for restaurants to increase the amount of area they have available for outside dining.