St. Charles ups outdoor dining fees for First Street Plaza restaurants

Spring in St. Charles means patio season is fast approaching and the local mecca of outdoor dining, the First Street Plaza, will look a little different this year.

City Council members approved changes to the plaza’s layout, added new regulations to the city code and created a newly required $2,000 deposit for restaurants with patio seats on the plaza during their March 17 meeting.

Three changes were approved; a new layout for the dining areas on the plaza, changes to the regulations for decorations and aesthetic aspects, and an increase to the outdoor dining fees that the city charges restaurants to use the plaza for outdoor dining.

The changes were first reviewed at the March 10 Planning and Development Committee meeting, where Economic development director Derek Conley presented the recommendations from staff.

The new layout would add 1,200 square feet of dining space to the plaza, increasing the total patio footprint from 7,950 to 9,150 square feet.

Part of the plans call for removing a section of the barrier wall at the west-most end of the plaza, to create more dining space and allow the walkway to flow out towards Second Street.

The outdoor dining areas of Gia Mia and McNally’s will increase, but no changes are planned for the dining areas of La Zaza, La Mesa or Alter Brewing.

McNally’s will add 32 seats, bringing the total outdoor dining section to 84 and increasing their area from 1,100 to 2,050 square feet. Gia Mia will add 20 seats, bringing the total outdoor dining section to 60 seats and increasing its area from 950 to 1,200 square feet.

The new decor standards impose several regulations on landscaping, furniture, planters and other decor, mainly to prevent damage to the plaza.

The most notable change to the standards would prohibit trimming or removing the existing vegetation. Those found to have trimmed or removed any of the trees, shrubs or plants would be subject to a new $500 fine and could have their outdoor dining permit revoked.

The final change considered was to increase the outdoor dining fees that each business on the plaza pays the city. Last year, the city charged a $250 application fee plus $20 per seat in two 100-day permitting periods, after waiving the fees in 2023.

Conley said the city collected a total of about $17,000 in outdoor dining fees last year.

Based on the new layout and increased number of seats on the plaza, the existing $20 fee would generate approximately $15,840 by the end of the 2025 season.

City Council members considered several increase options for this summer. Per seat fees of $25 would generate a total of $19,800 for the season, a $30 fee would generate $23,760 and $35 per seat fee would generate $27,720.

In addition to an increase to the per-seat fees, staff also recommended requiring a new $2,000 deposit from each restaurant, collected in two $1,000 payments per 100-day period, to cover potential damage to the plaza caused by a specific restaurant.

Conley also presented an email from the owner of Alter Brewing, which expressed opposition to increasing fees and cited the disruption his establishment has been through in recent years during the plaza’s construction.

At the March 10 meeting, Aldermen Steve Weber and David Pietryla were against increasing the fees, while Aldermen Bryan Wirball and Ed Bessner wanted the fee raised to $25.

Bongard suggested removing the application fee, but Conley said it was necessary to offset the cost of staff’s time spent reviewing and processing the applications.

Wirball suggested using the deposits collected to start a fund that would be used to hire security to monitor the downtown plaza and adjacent parking garage during busy times.

After discussion, committee members recommended keeping the current per-seat fees but requiring a new $2,000 deposit. The recommendations for changing the layout, regulations and fees were made in separate unanimous votes.

City Council members approved all three changes in an unanimous vote as part of the consent agenda without discussion at their March 17 meeting.