Park Ridge City Council moved Monday to increase its fees for restaurants to use public sidewalk and parking space for outdoor dining to $5.62 per square foot.
It’s a further sign of a transition in the program, which began in response to the pandemic, to what the director of Community Preservation and Development has called a quality of life amenity in Park Ridge as COVID recedes from center stage.
The change will price parking spots at $900 per spot for the upcoming season, up from $600 per parking spot last year.
City Manager Joe Gilmore said staff recommended the price of $5.62 as a halfway point between the price of $3.75 per square foot and $7.50 per square foot, which is the “market rate” of a parking spot for half a year.
Currently, the city uses the revenue the program generates to help promote and market other non-dining businesses in Park Ridge.
“Part of our job is to make the program equitable,” he said. “To the extent we can put targeted dollars toward marketing for non-restaurant business, that makes it more equitable.”
Some aldermen suggested that the city put some of the money into aesthetic improvements for the areas used, noting that the safety barricades, umbrellas, tables and other gear could be visually chaotic.
Mayor Marty Maloney suggested that if the city increases its fee from $3.75 per square foot, some of that increase could help purchase planters and visually uniform barricades.
“We just gave up a million dollars in city stickers; I’m guessing we can find some paint or canvas coverings for the traffic barricades,” 5th Ward Ald. Charlie Melidosian said, referring to the city’s recent move to end the requirement for vehicle stickers.
Aldermen also discussed and were lukewarm on the prospect of using vacant lots in the Uptown area to expand the program.
1st Ward Ald. John Moran said he wasn’t opposed to the idea but that he didn’t want to see outdoor dining become a permanent use for empty lots.
“All those lots on Main Street are supposed to be functioning businesses, brick and mortar businesses, not open air parking lots,” he said. “I understand that right now, for whatever reasons they’re not being developed and putting them to some sort of good use would make sense.”
But Moran said he didn’t want to see outdoor dining become the use for a vacant lot for an indefinite period.
Aldermen will begin the approval process for charges associated with the outdoor dining program at the April 5 city council meeting, according to a memo by city staff.
