City to Study Outdoor Dining Fee
A request by Councilwoman Linda Parks to waive an outdoor dining permit fee for small businesses that add three or fewer tables will be studied by the city’s budget task force before coming back to the council for consideration.
Parks said the city’s $1,600 fee--levied whether a business wants to add one or 20 tables--is onerous for small restaurants along Thousand Oaks Boulevard and may be why few have added small outdoor dining areas.
“These are modest expansions that would really improve the ambience of our boulevard,” Parks said.
Most of her colleagues, however, said the fees were instituted for a good reason by the budget task force and argued that changing one aspect of them would be going down a “slippery slope.” They said they did not anticipate supporting the proposal.
“There was an independent audit done to determine the recommended amount of these fees,” said Councilman Andy Fox. “I don’t think $1,600 is an exorbitant amount of money--it’s what you, the taxpayer, pays to have the application processed.”
After some debate, the council unanimously agreed to refer the matter to the budget committee.
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