New Orleans extends parklet pilot fee waiver
A program to support New Orleans restaurants and bars that want to expand outdoor seating has been extended.
The city said that its Parklet Pilot Program and a waiver of the fees associated with it will run through Sept. 30. It had been scheduled to end Wednesday.
The program allows restaurants to use on-street parking spaces in front of their business for additional seating. Under COVID-19 restrictions, the additional outdoor dining space helped increase capacity for restaurants under occupancy restrictions.
There are currently 36 restaurants operating a parklet space, according to a news release from the city. The extension also includes fee waivers for sidewalk café use permits.
Athens might look a little different this year â maybe youâve noticed more outdoor seating options, some shuttered windows and different menu offerings from the eateries that line every street and avenue.
While everyone was lurched into pandemic-era confusion, local business owners were forced to adapt to new rules for the safety of themselves and their customers. They also had to find new streams of income and ways to make it work while dining and shopping became increasingly dangerous.
Some businesses didnât make it, others kept their doors closed for months and some started new in the wake of empty storefronts. For those that have hung on this long, innovation and adaptation have been essential.
Restaurants encouraged to expand outdoor dining with parklet permits offbeat.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from offbeat.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Modified Phase 1 restrictions go into effect Friday
Mayor Cantrell announces city to fall back to modified Phase 1 By Nicole Mumphrey | January 6, 2021 at 3:34 PM CST - Updated January 8 at 5:37 AM
NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell announced Wednesday that the city will fall back to a modified Phase 1.
The announcement came as the COVID-positivity rate in Orleans Parish jumped to 10.4%. That’s up from 5.5 percent.
Every #COVID19 measure we re watching is indicating major community outbreak in #NOLA:
Positive test rate skyrocketed to over 10% in one week
Daily new cases 7x higher than in fall months
There have been more than 21,000 positive cases of Coronavirus and 685 deaths.