Downey Approves Temporary Outdoor Dining

By Tammye McDuff • July 30, 2020

Downey City Council approved temporary dining guidelines for Downey restaurants, utilizing adjacent outdoor areas to serve food and drinks at the regular meeting June 9^th.

In response to this temporary situation and in efforts to assist restaurant businesses, the Community Development Department created a temporary outdoor dining program that would allow restaurants within the city to apply for provisional outdoor dining areas, assisting with the loss of indoor seating. As with many other cities in the area the program allows restaurant owners the flexibility to designate outdoor walkways, sidewalks or parking stalls for outdoor dining that can serve one or more restaurants in a center.

All restaurants in the city are eligible to participate in the program that utilizes public and private property, meeting the temporary outdoor dining criteria. However, the Downtown Downey Core District on Downey Avenue, will add a bit more to the experience.

In an effort to provide additional space for the downtown businesses and open the area for additional pedestrian traffic, starting last Saturday July 25, Downey Avenue, between 2^nd and 3^rd Street will be closed indefinitely.

This closure will open up public space to support the safe reopening of Downtown Downey business, the city has partnered with the District@Downey for the next six months. Barricades will prohibit normal throughway traffic opening up the street to outdoor patio-style dining. This space was formerly the location for the Downey Farmers Market.

Effective Saturday, August 1^st, the farmers market will be temporarily moved from Downey Avenue to the public parking lot located on the corner of 2^nd Street and La Reina Avenue. The farmers market will continue to operate at its new location every Saturday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.