Fiscal Note
No City appropriation required.
Title
Extending the deadline to apply and pay for certain street vending and sidewalk café licenses for the 2022-2023 street vending season.
Body
WHEREAS, COVID-19 has come with unprecedented challenges to our local economy, including to restaurants and taverns, who have been limited in their ability to serve customers throughout the pandemic, due to necessary health orders as well as customer concerns about being indoors; and
WHEREAS, a variety of emergency orders and resolutions have provided relief to street vendors and sidewalk café operators, including a waiver of all license fees for the 2020 and 2021 street vending seasons, continuation of assigned sites, and the creation of the “Streatery” program which allows sidewalk cafes to occupy expanded footprints on the sidewalk and into the roadway, using additional equipment and other special permissions; and
WHEREAS, the Streatery program expires on April 14, 2022 and there is great interest in continuing the program into the future, not only as a safety measure to facilitate outdoor seating during the ongoing pandemic but as a permanent option for sidewalk cafes wishing to continue their expanded outdoor space; and
WHEREAS, to make such changes permanent, many city ordinances and policies must be examined and decisions made that impact a wide range of city operations. Such work is ongoing and it is expected to result in a series of recommended ordinance amendments; and
WHEREAS, as of January 21, 2021, approximately 140 Madison businesses are participating in the Streatery Program which will expire on April 14, 2022; and
WHEREAS, license applications for the next season (April 15, 2022-April 14, 2023) would normally be accepted beginning January 1 and due on February 1, with a payment deadline of April 1, but Planning and Economic Development staff recommend these deadlines be extended to allow the sufficient time for the necessary policy and operational changes to be put in place and communicated to the business community;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the application deadlines set forth in MGO 9.13(1)(a) for all street vending licenses with an application deadline of February 1 (Basic, Basic Umbrella, Mall Food Vending, Mall Arts/Crafts, Merchant Vending, all Sidewalk Cafés, Southeast Campus, and TOSVOD) be extended to April 1, 2022 for the 2022-2023 street vending season only; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the payment due date for such license types, currently with a payment due date of April 1 in MGO 9.13(1)(a), be extended to a later due date to be set forth in an invoice from the City; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that this resolution is in effect for the 2022-2023 Street Vending Season only and only for those license types and due dates described above.