(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to create, establish, operate, maintain or otherwise be engaged in the business of running an outdoor cafe or place any items upon the sidewalks, on-street parking locations, or public property in the urban county unless they shall hold a currently valid permit issued under the terms of this article.
(b) A permit is intended to allow:
(1) An establishment to encroach into the sidewalk area located immediately in front of that establishment and up to twenty-five (25) feet in either direction with appropriate permission and approval as provided herein; and/or
(2) An establishment to encroach into up to two (2) on-street parking spaces located immediately in front of that establishment with appropriate permission and approval as provided herein. A permittee shall not be allowed to encroach upon or otherwise interfere with on-street handicapped or disabled parking locations.
(c) A permit does not authorize the permittee to conduct activities within the permitted area not directly related to the operation of an outdoor cafe. Unless authorized or directed by the urban county government, the furnishings and other objects must not be moved around or removed during the hours of operation of the outdoor cafe such that activities inconsistent with the operation of the outdoor cafe can take place.
(d) Permits shall be issued on annual basis effective January 1, and only to validly licensed businesses that wish to provide furnishings or other objects directly related to their business of food and/or refreshment service on the public property adjacent to their businesses for use by the general public. If an establishment is not located on the ground floor of a building, or if it intends to encroach beyond the area immediately in front of its establishment it must provide written consent from the owners of the other building(s) and the ground floor tenant(s) in order to apply for the permit.
(e) Although a permit is valid for a calendar year, a permittee is not required to utilize the permitted area for that entire period. The permittee may be required by the administrator to remove some or all objects from the permitted area and return the area to public use during the times of year within which the outdoor cafe is not regularly operating.
(f) A permitted area which is contiguously located to a premises licensed to sell alcoholic beverages shall be considered as part of that licensed premises for the purpose of the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages. All alcoholic beverages within the permitted area must have been obtained from that ABC licensee.
(g) Nothing in this article shall be construed to permit conduct prohibited by any other statute, ordinance or regulation, or to prohibit the enforcement thereof. If applicable, the permittee must also obtain any necessary approvals from the state and local alcohol beverage control authorities, the courthouse area design review board, the historical preservation commission, and other boards or approval authorities that have a regulatory interest in the property.
(h) Any furnishings or other objects utilized by the permittee must be removable and must not damage the sidewalk, on-street parking location, or other public property. Any necessary permits and approvals must be obtained in the event the permittee wishes to affix any object to the sidewalk, on-street parking location, or public property.
(i) A means of clearly identifying the permitted area for enforcement and safety purposes to the satisfaction of the administrator must be provided by the permittee, whether through barriers, markings, or other like methods. This shall include the use of approved barriers to protect patrons from motor vehicles if the permittee is utilizing on-street parking as part of its outdoor cafe.
(j) In the event that a business is operating an outdoor cafe without a permit the urban county government may, in addition to any other enforcement remedy that it may have available, remove any and all furnishings and other vestiges of said business upon providing written notice to the business. The written notice shall provide the business with at least twenty-four (24) hours to comply, absent emergency circumstances. It shall not be necessary to issue an additional notice of violation prior to the urban county government's removal of said encroaching items should the operation of the outdoor cafe re-commence after initial compliance with the notice by the business and a failure of the business to obtain a permit. The business shall be required to reimburse the urban county government for all reasonable costs associated with the removal and storage of the items prior to their return by the urban county government.
(Ord. No. 115-96, § 2, 6-27-96; Ord. No. 90-2008, § 1, 5-8-08; Ord. No. 48-2010, § 2, 3-25-10; Ord. No. 135-2021 , § 2, 12-7-21)