SOHO — A proposal by the Village Alliance that seeks to boost businesses on Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village would allow as many as 22 sidewalk cafes to operate — and some locals worry the cafes would create too much noise.
At a meeting of Community Board 2's land use and business development committee, the Village Alliance presented a plan that would change the city's Zoning Resolution to allow sidewalk cafes on Eighth Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, and Sixth Avenue between West 10th Street and Waverly Place.
“The Village Alliance is exploring the introduction of small sidewalk cafes as one of several efforts to revitalize Eighth Street, [which has been] hit hard by the struggling economy over the past three years," the group's executive director, William Kelley, said.
"We feel that a handful of cafes will enrich the street and provide business owners with a means to stay competitive with restaurants in adjacent blocks," he said.
The proposal would ask the city to allow restaurants within the designated area on Eighth Street and the east side of Sixth Avenue to set up a single row of outdoor tables with just two chairs each.
The Village Alliance would request that restaurants on the west side of Sixth Avenue within the designated area be allowed to set up a single row of outdoor tables with four chairs each.
A Village Alliance study found that there are 22 restaurants within the proposed rezoning area that meet Department of Consumer Affairs requirements on minimum sidewalk size for sidewalk cafes. Of those, 15 restaurants expressed interest in potentially applying for sidewalk cafe permits, Kelley said.
Land use committee chair David Reck said the proposal, which has not begun the city's Uniform Land Use Review procedure, should not be approved as a way to help area restaurants.
"If [restaurants] can't make it without the sidewalk cafes, they're not going to make it," he said.
West Eighth Street has had a high number of commercial vacancies this year, business owners and real estate brokers told DNAinfo earlier this year.
Village resident Constance Christopher opposed the sidewalk cafe proposal, saying it would create too much additional noise.
"If the thought is that this will bring the Village liveliness, we don't need more liveliness," she said.
Village Alliance board member Michael Levine assured the committee that the group would not proceed with the rezoning application if there is "substantial community opposition."
The Village Alliance's rezoning application would need to be certified by the Department of City Planning, and reviewed and issued advisory votes by CB2 and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. It would then be subject to approval by the City Planning Commission and City Council.
If approved, restaurants seeking permission to set up sidewalk tables would still need to appear before CB2 and seek sidewalk cafe licenses from the DCA.
The Village Alliance's proposal will continue to be discussed by CB2's land use committee, board members said.
