Turf Battles: Cities Grapple with Making Outdoor Dining ADA-Compliant

By Dan Tobin

Boston resident Doug Bacon recalls the joyous moment in the summer of 2020 when he first noticed local restaurants adding tables and patios that spilled out into the street. It was “magical” he said. 

Outdoor dining proved to be one of the few positive legacies of the COVID-19 crisis. Four years later, many cities are still working on rules to make outdoor dining a permanent summer feature, including ensuring compliance with ADA requirements that were brushed aside in 2020.

“We did change the parameters of the program after the pandemic,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a recent radio interview with GBH (July 9th episode). “During the pandemic it was basically meant as a restaurant rescue and relief program where regulatory agencies looked the other way on accessibility requirements and on some of the requirements we’ve determined for safety when you are eating so close to traffic. Now many of those requirements have been codified for the permanent program.”

Portland, Oregon has put together an extensive guide on how to incorporate ADA requirements into outdoor dining. Here, for example, is an illustration of ways to maintain a clear pedestrian pathway:

(From the Portland Bureau of Transportation)

But Portland restaurant owners have reported mixed results with outdoor dining. And the costs have been significant, with most spending $5,000-$6,000 to build a wooden structure on four or five parking spaces. “[We spent] a ton of money,” said Lisa Shroeder of the popular Mother’s Bistro and Bar in a recent panel discussion with Oregon Public Broadcasting. “Which is why I was very concerned when I heard that the business permits might not be renewed, over $5,000 at least, especially with the cost of wood currently. So I was very worried that I was going to be losing a lot of money if I had to deconstruct that.” And the demand for the outdoor seats has been underwhelming, Schroeder adds. 

In the same conversaton, restaurateur Carlo Lamagna of Magna Kusina, reported great success with the outdoor seating area. “In total, we spent about the same amount as Lisa did, running around $6,000 in total for the entire structure. . . . it’s been pretty amazing. It’s been adding quite a bit of revenue for us. So yeah, we are definitely benefiting from the structure.”

Few cities embraced outdoor dining during COVID as enthusiastically as New York. Many restaurants built elaborate outdoor dining structures seemingly overnight, which served as a stark contrast to the usual response to ADA requirements, wrote Peneliope Richards of the restaurant blog Eater. Richards, who uses a wheelchair, made her point clear in the title of her column:  “If Restaurants Can Build a Sidewalk Shed, They Can Accommodate Disabled Diners.”

“Complying with ADA guidelines should not be considered an added expense or something that restaurant owners can push to the wayside. It is the law, just as state mandates for indoor and outdoor dining, limited capacities, and other social-distancing protocols were. It’s disheartening to see how quickly and ingeniously many restaurants are able to pivot when it’s the bottom line that’s at risk (and understandably so: I am sympathetic to their need to survive), rather than the needs of their customers with disabilities.”

We agree wholeheartedly with Richards’ comments, but it shouldn’t be an either or. Diners with disabilities like to eat outside too, and that also contributes to the bottom line.