CUMBERLAND – With 100 percent capacity expected in Rhode Island restaurants and bars as of May 28, Cumberland’s executive order allowing owners to have temporary outdoor seating equal to what they’re missing inside will be rendered defunct.
Members of the Town Council’s ordinance subcommittee will now discuss how best to move forward on addressing the situation, even as many restaurant owners have indicated a desire to continue on with the outdoor seating they’ve been allowed as a group during the pandemic.
The trend, as council members mentioned last week, is for restaurants to move more business outdoors, but the town’s temporary order ties that allowable outdoor seating to what’s not allowed by the state inside, meaning the outdoor seats gradually go away until they hit zero toward the end of the month.