Take the Outdoor Cafe, Retail Displays, and Vending Trucks/Carts Survey!

For the past year, SDOT has issued free permits to local businesses to allow outdoor cafes, retail displays, and vending trucks and carts on our streets and sidewalks. Participating businesses have expressed great appreciation and new applications are still being accepted through the end of 2021. SDOT will continue this program through May 31, 2022. This program was designed to help businesses as we recover from the impacts of COVID-19 and the restrictions placed on indoor customer capacity. We are now expanding the free permits to include occasional single-day street closures for vendors selling crafts, artwork, and other types of retail merchandise.

SDOT are now planning for what will happen when the free permit program ends in May 2022. Will we return to pre-COVID permitting with related design standards, rules, and permit fees? Or will we take what we’ve learned from this program and heard from our community and begin to make some changes? What changes would have the most positive effects and on which communities or which groups within communities?