REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - The city of Rehoboth Beach adopted a design manual for outdoor dining in public spaces in March 2022, after it became such a success during the pandemic. On Monday, December 4th at the Mayor and Commissioners workshop meeting, the Building and Licensing department gave a follow up report to see how well restaurants have followed set rules. Overall the biggest problem the Building and Licensing department says it sees is restaurants barriers creeping too close to the end of the sidewalk. The departments says this is a safety concern for pedestrians.
The city believes stricter regulations will help prevent this from happening. The city says it hopes to see more restaurants participate in outdoor dining.
"We found that it worked well, and hopefully going forward there is a possibility of getting more out there and regulating them a little bit better," explained Matthew Janis, Chief Building Official.
One restaurant in Rehoboth Beach says outdoor dining has allowed for it to bring in more business.
"It really helps provide us with more seating so we can accommodate more people and more guests," explained Hope Snyder, manager at Eggs.
The city says the analyzing the report helps for them to figure out more ways to continue outdoor dining and keep it safe for everyone.