Since we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I thought I would share with you an innovative program started in the permitting department of Prince William County.
Yes, I started my series on my favorite business rankings and why. However, I thought would take a break and post a couple of different articles. I will get back to the rankings.
The permitting group in the County is formally known as the Prince William County Department of Development Services (DDS). The program I will highlight is the “Temporary Outdoor Seating for Restaurants".
First and foremost, I did not create it. Steve Hall did. I only administered it. It is a brilliant concept that as a tool allowed restaurants, bars, cafes, etc. to add seating capacity during COVID. He built it off the existing Temporary Activity Permit application and process. For a start, Mr. Hall trimmed the existing Temporary Activity Permit (TAP) application and reduced the number of required materials.
In addition, the actual approval process was streamlined. In order to receive approval, an application had to be reviewed by seven local and state departments. Each one looked at the application for their area of concern and expertise. For example, VA department of health staff ensured that the Governor’s Executive Orders pertaining to COVID were accounted for and enforced. In this case, it means that the wearing of masks and social distancing are enforced and monitored.
The Fire Marshal staff reviewed the application to ensure all fire safety regulations were adhered to and that if the seating was in a parking lot, fire protection could get to the fire with absolutely no barriers. Other reviewing agencies are the County transportation department, the state transportation department, finance staff, police, and the building department team. In some cases additional permits would be required. An example if a tent over 900 sq. ft. was set up. We accepted email approvals, another innovation.
In recognition of the impact of COVID to the service industry, the Board of County Supervisors reduced the application fee to $5.00 per restaurant or café.
The introduction package included a step by step guide to drawing the site of the outdoor seating on the County GIS mapping app. Mr. Hall had help from our outstanding DDS IT team. The application could take about 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on how easy you could use the County mapping platform to draw boundaries. We communicated to 57 restaurant and café owners in Prince William County about this initiative. We issued 28 conditional letters of approval.
I am immensely pleased to play a role in this innovative program. Across the U.S. you saw governments at all levels offer various initiatives to help the local business base survive COVID. This is just one example of hundreds. Our program helped 28 restaurants increase their capacity for customers. It was put together in a matter of days with a team of County employees (and that included applications, instructions, and program descriptions, etc.).
The next time you think government does not care, ponder this post. We do and we always have and we always will.
The link to the program:
https://www.pwcva.gov/department/development-services/temporary-outdoor-seating
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