At the April 20 Bristol Town Council meeting, councilors were presented with a draft ordinance that, if approved, will establish an outdoor dining zone on State Street.

According to Chris Vitale, Bristol’s Economic Development Coordinator, outdoor dining would be possible on the north side of state street, much like the arrangement that was rushed into place during the pandemic, but with more oversight.

“Businesses can apply for a permit, there would be an associated fee, and there would be a greater effort to beautify the space,” he said. “Businesses will be putting more money into it, and there will be an open, outdoor seating area as well.” The proposal is for May to October, with the north side of State Street reverting to parking in the offseason. “There is a lot of excitement from the business community.”

For restaurants not along State Street, applications continue to be addressed on a case-by-case basis. “The Council is looking at every application, and will take time and review,” said Vitale.

Zach Rivers of Judge Roy Bean presented at the Council meeting on behalf of the State Street restaurants.

“We're really excited and hoping that we can continue what we've done down there in the last two summers,” said Rivers. “It definitely was great for business.”

“I can tell from every business owner I've talked to in that area that it definitely benefited them, and everyone's still on board…The number one question I've been asked so far this spring is when is the outdoor seating coming back? It really created a vibe; the shops in the street have all said they definitely saw a lot more foot traffic and people coming through the doors. So in general we thought it was great for business. I think the model worked pretty well, and we're just really hoping to continue it seasonally.”

Councilors were mostly enthusiastic.

“Well, I'll speak for myself. I love it, and I'm glad it's back,” said Mary Parella. “I think it was really exciting to have that down there, and I think it does bring people downtown.”

“It's nice to see people outside again taking advantage of that area,” said Aaron Ley.

“It also provides sort of a vibe downtown,” said Tim Sweeney. “I am curious about the the design of how it's going to look; I want to make sure that that design really fits the look of the downtown.”

Councilor Tony Texeira had some concerns about fairness.

“Like everybody else, I do enjoy the outdoor dining,” he said. “Can we extend this to the entire town or all other businesses? Because obviously we as a council represent the entire town. So I have some concerns. One is parking. [There are] approximately 15 parking spots that will be gone…So this raises some concerns with me, the fairness of this. It's not that I don't support the businesses…but we have to be fair right across the board and you know, I'm not seeing that happen.”

Council Chairman Nathan Calouro also will have some concerns to express as this plan makes its way through the next two readings. “I also love the outdoor dining,” he said. “I’m going to hold my concerns until [the] public hearing…Tony you actually hit a couple of my points. I'm concerned about the parking.”

With four ‘ayes’ and one abstention (Teixeira), the Council voted to move to ordinance to the first reading at the next meeting; a public comment period will be held at the meeting after that, prior to a final vote.