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South Strabane streamlines permission process for outdoor dining

2 min read
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South Strabane Township supervisors approved Tuesday a moratorium on the process restaurants have to follow to obtain a temporary-use permit for outdoor dining.

Township manager Brandon Stanick said the township recently received a few requests from restaurants in the Route 19 corridor about obtaining temporary-use permits from the zoning board for outdoor dining.

Stanick said the township approved the motion Tuesday in anticipation that many more restaurants in the township may be expanding their outdoor eating areas due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We wanted to streamline it and be as efficient as possible in processing these requests,” Stanick said.

As the weather becomes cooler, more restaurants across the county might begin putting up tents with heaters to bring in more customers and stay within the COVID-19 regulations. Just this week, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that restaurants may increase their capacity from 25% to 50%.

Typically, the temporary uses for outdoor dining in South Strabane are approved through a special exception that has to go before the zoning hearing board, Stanick said. The six-month-long moratorium would allow restaurants to bypass that step.

Instead, restaurants can develop a site plan that identifies outdoor seating areas and capacity and submit it to Stanick or township fire Chief Scott Reese. Together, Reese and Stanick will ensure the site plans are in compliance with zoning code standards and that any access to the buildings are not blocked and there are no public safety hazards.

“It’s a moratorium on the process,” Stanick said. “They’ll still have to comply with the standards of the zoning code.”

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