Let’s Eat Outside!

(Photo credit: Ryan Givens)

Adopted Regulations

On September 12, 2022 the Shoreline City Council adopted Development Code amendments that require a permit for on-site Outdoor Seating areas. Outdoor Seating areas are allowed as part of a restaurant or drinking establishment. There are minimum standards for these spaces, such as safety standards, and what they should look like. As a benefit to small businesses, some on-site parking may be converted to Outdoor Seating, see the full ordinance below for more details. City staff is development a helpful guide for small businesses to outline the Outdoor Seating permitting process that should be available in Fall 2022.

Ordinance 969

Resolution 493

What do you mean?

The pandemic has led to so many changes in how we interact with each other. Some of us may not be ready to dine indoors again. That doesn’t mean that anyone should be left out of Shoreline’s great restaurants! Your representatives at City Hall are hard at work to help convert underutilized parking lots into dining opportunities. We hope to accomplish this in a two-step approach. We want to work on existing parking lots on private property first. After we establish this, we’re moving onto sidewalk dining experiences.

Your City wants to hear from you!

Below are the public meetings held on this topic.

September 12, 2022 City Council

• Read the meeting packet
• Watch the video recording of the meeting

August 15, 2022 City Council

• Read the meeting packet
• Watch the video recording of the meeting

July 21, 2022 Planning Commission

See the presentation to the Planning Commission
Read the meeting packet
Watch the video recording of the meeting

May 19, 2022 Planning Commission

See the presentation to the Planning Commission
Read the meeting packet
Watch the video recording of the meeting

December 16, 2021 Planning Commission

See the presentation to the Planning Commission
Read the meeting packet
Watch the video recording of the meeting

Please sign up for updates using the web form on this page.

We encourage any thoughts and opinions by phone or email, see contact information in the “Contact Us” box.

Why are we doing this?

In an effort to help some of our local businesses during the pandemic, your City Council enacted temporary regulations to allow restaurants to seat their customers outside in parking lots, sidewalks, and other public spaces. These rules provided flexibility for businesses coping with shutdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions.

City Council extended these regulations four times, and with adoption of Ordinance No. 969, these temporary regulations have been rescinded. Please feel free to read these ordinances:

• Ordinance No. 895 (original interim regulations)
• Ordinance No. 917 (second extension)
• Ordinance No. 936 (third extension)
• Ordinance No. 952 (fourth and most recent extension)

How does this work?

If you’ve ever wondered why the city looks like the way it does, our city has its own set of rules for what the community looks like. These rules include things like what uses are allowed, where they are allowed, and what buildings look like. You can find these rules in the Shoreline Municipal Code Title 20 Development Code.

When changes, or amendments, to these rules are proposed they are reviewed by the Planning Commission; which is a volunteer board of Shoreline residents, who make a recommendation to the City Council. As your elected leaders, the City Council decide on what rules get changed. All the research, coordinating, and presentations are put together by City Staff, who are subject matter experts in various fields employed to carry out the work of your locally elected representatives.

As we work with our community partners (this is where you come in), City staff will present this item to the Planning Commission several times for review and refinement before it is ultimately considered by City Council. Once Council votes on the ordinances/regulations, changes to the rules become official, then City staff can allow outdoor seating on a permanent basis.