Gary Schiff, writing via Jeff Hayden�s e-mail address: �Bob Copeland and others will be pleased with the final results of the sidewalk ordinance.
The ordinance will allow more permanent and overall, higher quality sidewalk streetscapes. The concerns many have raised regarding Nicollet Mall (if not addressed by the Inspections Department) will be addressed by the more permanent nature of the materials allowed. Check out Chicago�s sidewalk cafes: wrought iron, marble tables, and plants. Minneapolis ordinances currently require restaurant owners to store tables and chairs indoors every night, reducing any incentive to invest in high quality streetscapes. As a result, stackable plastic chairs and metal chains abound. As Nicollet Mall pedestrians have discovered, some restaurant owners each day expand their sidewalk cafes, inch-by-inch, in an attempt to expand their markets. Allowing more permanent planters will make enforcement of required setbacks easier. Applications for sidewalk cafes will pass through Public Work�s process for encroachment permits, and will be heavily scrutinized. Gary Schiff Minneapolis City Council Ward 9 ph: 612-673-2209 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/ward9/ _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
