Booker’s outdoor dining space on Baltimore Ave. in December 2020 (Facebook photo)

Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed new legislation giving permission for permanent outdoor dining in some city areas, including West Philadelphia.

Businesses whose outdoor dining structures, aka “streeteries,” comply with city requirements for design and placement will not have to reapply for an outdoor dining permit, something they had to do every year in the past.

Restaurants would normally have to get such a permit from Department Licenses and Inspections before the start of the spring-summer season to provide additional seating for their customers during warmer months. However, outdoor dining quickly became a necessity when the city imposed a ban on indoor dining in 2020 due to the pandemic. Some West Philly restaurants, like Booker’s Restaurant & Bar, weatherized their outdoor seating areas last fall and continued operating in colder weather. Although, the ban on indoor dining was eventually lifted, outdoor dining still remains a safer option for many people.

The city has experienced a 260 percent spike in outdoor dining licenses since 2020. Prior to June 2020, there were 230 establishments with outdoor dining licenses, mostly located in the Center City area, and now there are at least 830 licensed establishments across different sections of the city offering this amenity.

The bill was introduced by Councilmember Allan Domb.

“For the past 18 months, restaurants of all sizes across the city used this new outdoor dining program as a lifeline to keep their doors open and employees working…,” Domb said in a statement last month. “We need to continue providing an equal opportunity for restaurants to participate in outdoor dining options citywide, while creating a greater level of safety, accountability, transparency and enforcement through a permanent licensing option.”

The bill permits permanent outdoor dining in the following areas: West Philly, Center City, Old City, South Philly, Fishtown and Manayunk. The permitted hours of operation for “streeteries” are between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday, and between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.