Portland council OKs outdoor restaurant, retail plan
Photo / Renee Cordes
The Portland City Council has given a green light for a plan to close streets, including parts of Exchange Street, shown here, from June 1 to November 1 for outdoor dining and retail.
The Portland City Council on Monday evening unanimously approved a plan to create more outdoor space for dining and retail business from June to November, and also green-lighted the launch of three emergency assistance programs for business.
Under the plan unveiled last week, six streets were designated to give restaurants and stores additional public space outdoors to serve customers and sell their wares, including on sidewalks, parks and squares, private parking lots and so-called parklets in parking spaces.
The areas include part of Cotton Street, Dana Street, Exchange Street (from Fore Street to Middle Street, and Middle to Federal), part of Milk Street (from Exchange to Market, and Silver to Pearl streets) and Wharf Street, according to the plan.
Restaurants and retailers in those corridors will be allowed to expand activity into the street to increase capacity while adhering to social distancing guidelines. They are also required to maintain compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The news comes the same week that restaurants and retailers in 12 Maine counties were allowed to reopen.
In Portland, the planned outdoor business kickoff coincides with the day that eateries and retailers in Maine's four remaining counties, including Cumberland, are allowed to reopen, but amid lingering concerns among customers about eating out again, as shown in a recent survey.
Out of more than 1,500 regular restaurant goers surveyed by Eat Drink Lucky newsletter and the organizers of Maine Restaurant Week, more than half (55.3%) said they are more likely to cook at home and less likely to eat out when restrictions are lifted.
Close to one out of four (23.4%) of respondents said they would go back to dining in restaurants as soon as restrictions are lifted, while 17% said they would wait two months or longer.
Business assistance programs
The Portland City Council also on Monday approved final funding for three emergency business assistance programs to help small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
The programs include the Business Assistance Program for Job Creation, the Microenterprise Grant Program, and the Rapid Response Microloan Program.
More information about the programs is available online. Those who are interested in finding out more about the city's programs, and ones offered by the Greater Portland Council of Governments and the City of Westbrook, can register for a webinar this Thursday via the same link.
Applications for the business assistance programs are accepted from businesses in the city and are due by June 4.
Businesses that received funding from COVID-19 federal SBA and/or state commercial financing programs, through the Finance Authority of Maine, are not eligible for the City’s COVID-19 programs.
Other timetables
Portland emergency stay-at-home order remains in effect until June 1 as the city's Recreation Department plans the logistics and possibility of holding summer camps this year in a very different format.
The current thought is to host host camps in July and August at up to vie different sites, each with a limit of 45 children to allow for social distancing and in accordance with state guidelines of gatherings of less than 50 people.
After the state issues its final summer camp checklist, the Rec Department plans to announce final details for Portland camps.
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