St. Charles City Council waives outdoor dining fees for restaurants near plaza construction

Restaurants near the First Street Plaza construction in downtown St. Charles will not have to pay the city for outdoor dining permits for the next 100 days in an effort to offset the hindrances caused by the construction, including dust, noise and limited accessibility.

Downtown restaurants adjacent to the First Street Plaza that offer outdoor dining are required to obtain a sidewalk cafe permit from the city. The permits are good for 100 days and must be renewed halfway through the outdoor dining season.

With First Street Plaza construction underway, the St. Charles City Council on May 15 waived the outdoor dining fees for the first half – until July 22 – for restaurants that may be negatively impacted.

Rendering of the First Street Plaza expansion project by Serena Sturm Architects Ltd. (Graphic Provided by the City of St. Charles)

The measure was approved in two unanimous votes. Alderpersons Ryan Bongard and Paul Lencioni abstained from the vote.

The decision to waive fees for the second half of the season will return to the Planning and Development Committee for consideration July 10. Last week, the committee made the recommendation to the City Council to waive the fees.

The sidewalk cafe permit fees are determined based on the square footage of the plaza space used by each restaurant. Each 100-day permit costs 50 cents per square foot.

Last summer, the sidewalk cafe permit fees collected from McNally’s, Gia Mia, La Zaza, La Mesa and Alter Brewing totaled $7,228. This year, if fees were collected, the total from those restaurants would be about $6,480 because each restaurant had to reduce its outdoor dining space because of the construction.

Alderpersons on Monday will receive an update on the expansion of the First Street Plaza in downtown St. Charles. (Graphic provided by the city of St. Charles)

St. Charles Economic Development Director Derek Conley presented the recommendation from city staff at the May 8 Planning and Development Committee meeting.

Conley said waiving the fee for the full outdoor dining season would be a gesture of goodwill toward the downtown business community, adding there may be times construction occurs during the evening and on Saturdays.

The First Street redevelopment project has been in the works since 2020. The first phase was completed last spring and included building a retention wall along the Fox River and filling the hole where the Manor Restaurant had been demolished.

The City Council approved the second phase of funding and construction of the First Street redevelopment project at a meeting March 20. Contractors began putting up construction fences May 1 and have broken ground on the plaza.

Plans to expand First Street Plaza in downtown St. Charles continue to move forward. At their Dec. 20 meeting, St. Charles plan commissioners unanimously recommended approval of the plans. (Graphic provided by the city of St. Charles)

The second phase will include construction of a plaza featuring a solar pergola trellis and public art installations. Plans also call for the permanent closure of a section of First Street to vehicles to create pedestrian walkways from the parking garage entrance north to Main Street.

Also at Monday night’s meeting, alderpersons approved an agreement for architectural services for the project with Serena Sturm Architects Ltd. for $94,200 as part of the omnibus vote. It was passed unanimously without discussion.