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Davenport will allow businesses to use sidewalks for seating

Davenport is going to allow restaurants to put more seating space on the sidewalks.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — UPDATE: 

The Davenport City Council has approved the use of sidewalks to provide additional seating for downtown restaurants. 

ORIGINAL:

Davenport is considering allowing restaurants to put more seating space on the sidewalks. 

Under new guidance, restaurants in Iowa can only be at 50% capacity. The city of Davenport is considering allowing tables on city sidewalks. It would be to create more seating for restaurants to allow more customers. 

"This is still just one more thing we are trying to do to help," Downtown Davenport Partnership Executive Director Kyle Carter said.

If passed, restaurants in the downtown, East Village, and Hilltop areas would be able to use sidewalks.

"I'm sure all of them will take advantage of this to some degree, wether its one table or five," Carter said.

Carter said the outdoor table would still have to leave room for people walking and be 6ft apart.

 "There are still restrictions of spacing, but this will just add a whole lot of real estate to people's capacity," Carter said.

"You can make them two tops so that way they don't go as far out on the sidewalks, leaving more foot traffic down the sidewalks," Mac's Tavern owner Gary Rowland said.

Carter said normally, restaurants would have to pay a $300 fee to use sidewalk space for seating, but with the new ordinance, the city would waive the fee.

"Anything that adds capacity for free is music to their ears," Carter said.

The city is also voting to add picnic tables to open areas. Carter said the Downtown Partnership would help maintain the picnic tables and add trash cans. 

"If someone is going to get to-go, they can come and dine somewhere else downtown," Carter said.

"If it passes, we will set up tables and see what it looks like and go from there," Rowland said.

"It's just one more way we can try and help mitigate whats already really bad," Carter said.

City council will vote on the sidewalk seating at the Wednesday, May 13th, council meeting. 

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