In response to Governor Cooper's Phase 2 restrictions, the City of Burlington has expedited permit processes for restaurants and fitness classes in Burlington to increase outdoor dining capabilities and allowing fitness classes to be held (with social distancing) at Burlington's Parks such as Springwood, Fairchild, and Joe Davidson. 

OUTDOOR DINING

Two existing tools have been modified to provide staff-level review of proposed outdoor seating at no charge. These applications are available now online at www.BurlingtonNC.gov/Planning.

1) A Temporary Use Permit allows restaurants to apply to use a portion of their parking lot to provide additional seating. Fitness studios could use the same tool to apply to use a portion of their parking lot for classes instead of parking.

2) An Outdoor Dining Permit allows applicants to request seating opportunities on public property (excluding streets). Once approved, outdoor dining is allowed until 30 days after the governor ceases restaurant capacity restrictions.

These applications, including proof of property owner approval, certificate of liability insurance, and a sketch plan, are reviewed and approved at a staff level which can be done expeditiously. 

Senior Planner Conrad Olmedo is handling this process. He can be reached directly at 336-513-5415 or by email at colmedo@burlingtonnc.gov.

FITNESS IN THE PARK

Additionally, the Burlington Recreation and Parks Department is coordinating applicants for the Outdoor Fitness Permit, linked here. This permit will allow fitness classes to be operated by an establishment at one of Burlington’s park green spaces. 

Recreation and Parks Events Coordinator, Emily Crowley, is the staff contact for these applications. She can be reached at ecrowley@burlingtonnc.gov or 336-229-3149.

MAY 21, 2020 / Madison Taylor

You can also find this blog post on Madison Taylor's page by following this link:
https://mtaylor.blog/2020/05/21/just-a-phase-getting-out-and-around-a-little/

A few hours after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper unfurled the new and slightly confusing “Safer at Home” phase two plan for reopening the state during the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants and other impacted businesses in Alamance County began their own rollouts for how to serve customers safely in the weeks and months ahead.

And it’s a mixed bag. Some restaurants are planning to reopen public seating in dining areas with 50 percent occupancy in phases. Some are reopening at 5:01 p.m. on Friday when the new regulations go into effect while others are waiting a few days. Others with more limited inside space plan to continue takeout and curbside service but not reopen dining rooms at the moment. And a great many are asking municipal leaders for permits to serve customers on sidewalks or parking lots. And for a few the stay-at-home measure put in place more than two months ago proved insurmountable.

​At the behest of Burlington Beer Works Brewery and Restaurant and other establishments, Burlington City Council began discussing outdoor dining options for restaurants this week. They did so knowing that Phase 2 was likely to start on Friday, May 22.

I had a conversation today (May 21) with Peter Bishop, director of Economic Development for the city of Burlington. He’s at the center of discussions about how to help restaurants “enhance their selling potential when they open back up rather than do takeout or curbside service.” A lot of areas outside of North Carolina are already allowing restaurants to use outdoor spaces by creating parklets, utilizing parking lots or even closing some streets temporarily.

The same could happen locally soon.

“I think we can make suburban outdoor dining happen pretty quickly on sidewalks or under-utilized parking lots,” Bishop said. “Downtown we’re looking at (the Historic Depot) space, nearby parking lots or streets for restaurants not near parking lots or the depot space.”

Bishop said the intention is for the city to make it happen.

#ChooseAlamance Support Local Campaign

This week the Alamance Chamber launched the Choose Alamance Campaign to support small and local businesses.

​Over the next few weeks we will be honoring and celebrating our local businesses by hosting learning opportunities, enhancing encouragement to "Shop Local", highlighting member businesses and running social media challenges. We also have a few promotional items you can request for your business to help us get the word out about Choose Alamance.