‘Streateries’ will live on in Edmonds, for a fee

After a fierce debate, the Edmonds City Council decided Thursday to extend the period that businesses can have streateries set up in public parking spaces for four more months, but it comes with a catch.

Certain restaurants have been allowed the extra outdoor seating in parking spots throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. But that rule was set to expire Dec. 31. Now, restaurants with the streateries can keep them through the end of April, for a $4,000 fee.

The city council voted 5-2 to allow the extension.

Seattle’s street dining is here to stay — at least for a while

Edmonds Mayor Mike Nelson called the decision “shameful” in a statement, saying that the “highest permit fee in the nation” would harm the “small businesses that were hurt the most.”

Councilmembers in favor of the fee, like Will Chen, who proposed it, said this was only fair when the businesses are continuing to take up public parking spaces, potentially from other customers.

“Just keep in mind that that’s extremely generous for the rest of the businesses,” said Chen about the extension. “The pandemic does not just impact restaurants, [it] impacts us all.”

Councilmember Adrienne Fraley-Monillas called it “elitist” to expect struggling mom-and-pop businesses to be able to afford the fee.

In all, the council decided that $4,000 was the fair value of two parking spots for three months.

“It justifies doing the more market-value approach,” Councilmember Vivian Olsen said. “If it’s actually serving their purpose and helping them, they’re paying the fair market value for the public space, and that we’re providing that.”

Restaurants with streateries have said they needed the extra space to survive COVID.

“I do think that it’s been a lifeline and kept things going — some of them would be financially in a different spot for sure, had the streateries not been available to them,” said Jen Lawson, a business owner and president of the Downtown Edmonds Merchants Association.

Lawson and other DEMA members had proposed less than what the council ultimately decided — a $500 to $750 fee per month for each restaurant with a streatery.

Meanwhile, a group against the streateries says it is considering suing the city because it finds the program discriminatory.

“They’ve only allowed these in a chosen area,” said Kyle Huffman, a local restaurant owner. “I’m two blocks outside of the chosen zone — I applied for it and I was denied. … I think it’s great that they want to help restaurants, but they should do something that benefits all the restaurants.”

KIRO Newsradio’s Nicole Jennings contributed to this report.

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest