Crystal Lake City Council approves 3 outdoor public downtown dining areas

Three outdoor public dining areas are being established in downtown Crystal Lake, a move the city said will provide more options for outdoor seating, which became popular amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outdoor seating areas are at North Main Street, Depot Park and Brink Street Plaza.

City staff said dining options for city restaurants have continued to evolve throughout the pandemic. Amid COVID-19 restrictions limiting indoor dining, many places provided outdoor seating, curbside pickup, online ordering and to-go options. However, even as restrictions loosened, outdoor dining during warm-weather months has remained popular in many places.

“It’s really great how many of the restaurants are being creative, and I think customers are starting to enjoy outdoor spaces a little bit more,” Community Development Director Michelle Rentzsch said. “We like to see that. It makes the downtown very vibrant.”

Crystal Lake’s downtown restaurants are dispersed among many streets, making it hard to create a centralized outdoor seating area restaurants can easily service, city staff said in an agenda supplement to Tuesday evening’s City Council meeting, where City Council members voted to approve the outdoor eating expansion as part of its consent agenda.

Creating a few pods of outdoor seating could be a solution to this, city staff said, and could make it so visitors can easily access restaurants.

At the North Main seating area, there’s an existing brick paved patio in the right of way. City staff said public seating, landscape planters and string lights could be added there. Three picnic benches already are at Depot Park, and adding four more would provide more seating in what city staff said is a “pleasant park atmosphere” that can be used by businesses on both the north and south sides of the railroad tracks. Additional seating also is planned for the Brink Street Plaza area.

The city ordered the necessary furniture, Rentzsch said, and it was on its way as of Thursday afternoon.

“In the meantime, we’re working on figuring out the landscaping and signage and maybe some lighting,” Rentzsch said. “As soon as the furniture comes in, we’ll be able to get it all up and going.”

Right now, this setup would be allowed through Oct. 31, Rentzsch said. After that, the city will reassess its options.

“However, we can maintain this or even expand it next year. We will look at that,” Rentzsch said.

Crystal Lake received 37 requests for temporary outdoor spaces last year, and city officials anticipate that many of these restaurants to submit requests to set up outdoor dining seating again this year, according to a news release.

No streets will have to be closed to make this expanded outdoor dining happen, Rentzsch said. City staff initially looked at closing a section of Brink Street, but that idea was abandoned because there would be too many impacts on traffic circulation in that area, Rentzsch said.

To accommodate the outdoor seating, Crystal Lake changed its city code to establish designated outdoor refreshment areas where alcoholic drinks can be consumed outdoors. Open, unsealed alcoholic beverages are not allowed to be carried out of these areas.

Businesses that want to use the designated outdoor refreshment areas have to register with the city, and participating restaurants and bars are required to issue a wrist band for those who want to leave the premises with an alcoholic beverage.

To drink alcohol in the designated outdoor refreshment areas, patrons must wear their wristbands.

As part of the city’s facade enhancement grant for new and existing retailers, Crystal Lake will reimburse existing businesses up to $5,000 for outdoor seating improvements. Eligible reimbursable items include outdoor tables and chairs, umbrellas, weather enclosures and heating appliances.