Johnston Town Council Vice President Joseph Polisena Jr. on Monday said he will propose an ordinance next week granting temporary outdoor dining licenses to all town restaurants “in good standing” once Gov. Gina Raimondo allows for service to resume in some capacity.
Under the present structure, restaurants would have to apply for the outdoor dining license and come before the Town Council to present their cases. If the ordinance passes, it will provide the license to businesses without having to wait, but Polisena said there are still safeguards in place.
The permits do not include entertainment. Businesses must still comply with public health and safety protocols and failure to adhere to any restrictions outlined in the license will result in a show cause hearing. Raimondo said Monday that outdoor dining was a part of the plan for phase one, which would begin if the stay-at-home order is lifted on May 8. Regular dine-in service would be considered at a later date.
Polisena also noted in an email Tuesday morning that the granting of the permits “would waive the normal patio license application fee as well as any fee to serve alcohol outside.”
Polisena will present the proposed ordinance during this coming Monday’s virtual Town Council meeting. He noted he has spoken with Council President Robert Russo about the concept, and he is in agreement.
“The main purpose of this is so people I think generally feel safe when they are eating outside than they would in an enclosed space like a restaurant,” Polisena said over the phone Monday. “This is basically to cut the red tape for restaurants … Since we’re in such dire circumstances this is something that I’m looking to do that eliminates all the red tape that allows these restaurants to sell food immediately and if there are problems that arise we’ll still have the same mechanism that we have for everything else.”
Polisena said he is confident most businesses will be compliant, hoping that those abutting residential areas can coexist with nearby homes. He said the idea came to him about a week ago when he was thinking of areas with similar dining situations – like Federal Hill in Providence – even if that section of the state doesn’t has as much foot traffic and drivers tend to travel a bit slower.
“When you see an area like Federal Hill, you see how they eat outside, it’s a bit more feasible at Federal Hill,” Polisena said. “I figured it’d be some instant relief to restaurant owners, with some people who otherwise won’t go to restaurants. This will hopefully help those patrons come out and they’d be able to go to their restaurants.”
The proposal received commendation from Mayor Joseph Polisena, who said he was very pleased with the idea during a phone interview with the Sun Rise on Tuesday morning.
“Everyone’s concerned, my son as well, he knows the importance of businesses in our community so as long as we follow the guidelines and follow the governor’s guidelines I think this will hopefully give some of the restaurants the opportunity to maybe increase their amount of people that come in, do some in-house dining so to speak,” the mayor said.
He echoed his son’s sentiments that restaurants will largely obey the rules set in place, reiterating the contingencies that are in place should problems arise.
“I think there’s a lot of safeguards in the ordinance – obviously there’s going to be no outside entertainment so there’s no music,” the mayor said. “If they violate what the governor has as far as standing orders and protocols, then obviously they will lose that right to operate outside the venue that they’re going to be operating in. I think he’s putting in plenty of safeguards, my son’s a very cautious person.”
In several interviews, the mayor has voiced anxiety regarding the future of restaurants and other businesses in town as a result of the economic shutdown. He has said he’s worried how long they will be able to survive in the current climate, so he welcomed with open arms a system that would ease some of the burden they’re facing.
“As long as they act appropriately, which I know they will, we’ve got some really special businessmen and women in this town that own restaurants, this will give them another avenue,” he said. “I’m not speaking for the restaurants, but if they can only be 20 percent open or 50 percent open, they can’t survive on 50 percent of what they made. If this helps them put them closer to hanging on until they finally can go back to some sense of normalcy, I think it’s an excellent idea, I really do.”
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