The Beverly Hills City Council encouraged restaurants to use landscaping and building materials to improve the appearance of outdoor dining spaces. (Beverly Press/Park Labrea News file photo)

The Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 11 to make outdoor dining regulations permanent, keeping a program that was created during the pandemic and has proven to be very popular, attracting residents and visitors and improving the ambiance of the city’s business districts.

The council members, who were all enthusiastically supportive of outdoor dining,  spent more than an hour on the details of the permanent program including the design of outdoor spaces, called “parklets,” where restaurants will be allowed to put outdoor dining and how to grandfather in restaurants with outdoor dining areas that were created under the Open BH program prior to the pandemic. Councilwomen Sharona Nazarian and Lili Bosse led an ad hoc committee to guide the process of making outdoor dining permanent, and both said it was an extensive undertaking involving 16 months of outreach to all of the restaurants, as well as other businesses, city departments and the public.

“Really, our goal was to streamline this process. We wanted to be able to make it as easy as possible, make it as fast as possible. And we wanted to maintain the upscale integrity of what we want in our city, create a safe, easy path for design standards,” Nazarian said.

“[We were] really trying to make sure that there was not one stone that was left to be uncovered. If we found one, then we found the pebble and then we found another until we really got to the point where I really do believe that we covered every single detail,” Bosse added.

The city currently has 21 restaurants with outdoor dining spaces, or parklets, that will be covered under the new regulations. If existing and new restaurants that want outdoor dining meet a list of criteria approved by the city on Dec. 11, they will be granted permits through administrative review. Those that do not meet the criteria will be required to go through a more extensive planning and permitting process.

Restaurants that had outdoor dining areas under the earlier OpenBH program will have nine months to ensure their spaces meet the new regulations. However, they must notify the city within two months whether they intend to continue offering outdoor dining and will comply with the new rules. If not, they will be required to get new permits through the more extensive planning process. The City Council wanted to ensure that restaurants that do not intend to keep outdoor dining after the nine months and follow the new rules do not get a “free ride” of being exempt from the regulations until the grace period expires.

The council also addressed the configuration of outdoor dining areas on public property, requiring that a six-foot pathway be maintained so people can walk through, and emergency responders have access. The council stipulated that umbrellas and fencing may not block views.

The council also addressed situations where a dining area is partially in front of a neighboring business. Because outdoor dining spaces are often created on parking spaces in the street, and parking spaces are not always even with property lines, the dining spaces sometimes extend a few feet in front of a neighboring business’ façade. In such cases, the restaurant must get consent from the adjacent business and property owner and must be aware that permission may be rescinded at any time, and they may be required to alter their outdoor space.

The city also encouraged restaurants to use greenery and building materials to make their dining areas more aesthetically pleasing. The city will offer a “Kit of Parts” designed by the consulting architect Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects with a pre-approved set of elements that would be available for restaurants to purchase and use. Using the Kit of Parts is not required, but restaurants opting to use the pre-approved elements will be eligible for the streamlined approval process.

The new rules will not go into effect until the new year. Following the City Council’s approval on Dec. 11, staff will prepare a draft ordinance that will be voted on a second time at an upcoming meeting, and the new regulation will go into effect in an additional 30 days.