Expanded outdoor dining to return to downtown Nashua -- with a few changes
Apr. 14—Outdoor dining — and concrete barriers — will return to downtown Nashua over the objections of dozens of business owners and residents.
The ordinance permits the barriers for the next three years. Unlike the past two years, all the barriers will be painted the same brick-red color.
The ordinance passed 11-4 Tuesday night.
Plans have been scaled back, with fewer barriers and the restoration of two parking spaces in front of 100 Main St. To ease traffic flow, some of the barriers will not return.
The issue sparked much debate in the Gate City for weeks, fueled by hundreds of emails both for and against sent to aldermen and a task force.
Those in favor said the expanded outdoor dining brought a vibrancy to downtown. Those opposed cited traffic congestion, limited public safety access and lack of convenient parking.
During the meeting, Mayor Jim Donchess said a restaurant will need to ask for permission from their landlord before the barriers are placed.
"We cannot put up barriers and have no tables," he said. "We are not going to do that."
The city will work with all the interested restaurants before any of the barriers go up, he said.
The biggest debate revolved around whether San Francisco Kitchen at 133 Main St. could use one or two parking spots. The board voted 11-4 to allow two spots as part of an amendment. An agreement will likely have to be reached with Wingate Pharmacy, which wants a parking space out front.
Beauview Avenue resident Joanne St. John said the downtown is evolving.
"Now we are used to being like France or having outdoor dining when we didn't used to do that," she said.
Fawn Lane resident Matthew Gouthro spoke against the plan, pointing to gridlock, reduced parking and safety hazards. He called the plan "a pie-in-the-sky boondoggle."
Some residents asked why restaurants were not being charged for their expanded outdoor dining space, as in other New Hampshire cities.
Alderman Melbourne Moran said he will expect some sort of fee schedule to be planned for the second and third years of the ordinance.
The outdoor dining will not include as many signs or orange barrels, said Tim Cummings, economic development director, in an email to the Union Leader last week. Barriers on Main Street just before Canal Street will not be included because of traffic.
"There will be additional parking spaces particularly on the westerly side of Main Street between Factory Street and Water Street," he wrote.
He said it's tough to say how many were in favor or opposed.
"There is no 'right' or 'wrong' with this issue," he wrote. "It really is a question of what type of downtown does a community want."
