Coastal Commission extends outdoor dining on Fisherman's Wharf until the end of 2023.

The dining establishments on Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf scored a big win Dec. 9, when the California Coastal Commission sent a letter to the city stating that outdoor dining can continue on the wharf through the end of 2023, regardless of whether a business has a permit to allow that use. 

The kerfuffle over outdoor dining on the wharf started last April, after Kevin Phillips, a managing partner at Abalonetti’s—the only wharf restaurant with a coastal development permit for outdoor dining—sent an email to the Coastal Commission outlining concerns about fellow businesses operating without a permit for outdoor dining. “These businesses have been allowed to expand beyond their leasehold spaces into the public right of way,” he wrote.

In the early days of the pandemic, the agency had given broad exceptions to its permitting policies regarding outdoor dining, but after Phillips’ email, the Coastal Commission sent a letter to the city in April stating that all wharf businesses without a coastal development permit for outdoor dining should shut it down by May 16. 

The city asked for, and received, an extension until the end of 2022. Now, the city has an extension until the end of 2023. 

It’s not clear what will happen then. Outdoor dining has become increasingly popular in the past two years, and has given restaurants struggling to retain employees and customers, and pay for the rising cost of products, a lifeline during a time when many people are more comfortable dining outdoors due to health concerns.

Part of the conundrum is that the Coastal Commission was asking, for those who sought a permit, both for parking to be increased and for a walkway around the wharf that would cost millions of dollars, and would be its own permitting headache. It didn't seem likely that the math would pencil out for wharf businesses. 

In a letter then-mayor Clyde Roberson sent to the Coastal Commission Oct. 21, he wrote, “The goal is to allow some outdoor seating while our region continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In making this decision, please ask yourself, how comfortable would you be personally sitting indoors or outdoors when [Covid] spikes?”

Roberson added his concerns about those who live with, or who are, immuno-compromised: “Shouldn’t these visitors have the options to dine outdoors during these daunting times?”

The Coastal Commission ultimately agreed. Kevin Kahn, the agency’s Central Coast district manager, wrote in his Dec. 9 letter to the city that, “We also acknowledge the present difficulties that Wharf businesses continue to face with the ongoing [Covid] pandemic coupled with the seasonal surge in other respiratory illnesses, and we fully understand the role that outdoor dining plays in navigating this challenge. We would like to express our strong support of the City and Wharf businesses as local partners during this time.”

But before that, he notes, “We look forward to working with you and your staff, [Fisherman’s Wharf] merchants, and the public on longer-term parameters and protocols to provide for such outdoor dining spaces in a manner protective of general public coastal access.”

Monterey restaurateur Chris Shake, who owns a couple of restaurants on the wharf, is skeptical businesses will ever be able to accommodate what the Coastal Commission has been asking for, and hopes the agency will change its requirements for a permit. 

“There's been a change in behavior since the pandemic, there’s no denying that. In order for the small business owners to survive, there has to be changes, and change in government as well,” Shake said during an interview in October. “The only difference is we've added an outdoor activity that people love. It’s safe, people can bring their pets, it keeps employees working, it’s great for the city of Monterey—there are so many positives.”