The City of Frederick’s “Pop-Up Dining” program kicked-off its first complete weekend, Friday June 12th – paralleling the State of Maryland’s re-opening of restaurants at 50% capacity. Frederick’s new outdoor dining program is designed to support City restaurants & craft beverage establishments as they overcome the economic hardships of the pandemic, as well as provide returning patrons & employees a safer environment.
The multi-faceted program was informed by a public outreach effort that received over 1500 community responses. The plan crafted from this feedback offers five outdoor expansion opportunities to local restaurateurs, as well as temporarily relaxed regulations on parking and enclosure requirements. The new opportunities work in tandem with the popular specially-designated “Curbside Pick-up Zones” throughout the Downtown area.
The massive undertaking was a joint effort across City departments, pulling in staff efforts from: Economic Development, Building, Public Works, Risk Management, Engineering, Police, Parking, Communications, and the Mayor’s Office.
In less than two weeks from the close of the public survey, the interdepartmental team finalized and implemented the entire program -- reworking traffic, parking & pedestrian patterns and installing necessary new infrastructure. Staff also designed, launched, and began the review of permits & legal agreements for interested businesses – already supporting 5 new sidewalk cafes; 12 conversions on private property; 8 in-street dining expansions; 11 parklets; and 1 City park use arrangement.
““The Pop-Up Dining program is the result of an incredible multi-discipline team effort to create and carry out a plan which is able to balance economic recovery with patron safety coupled with pedestrian and vehicular needs. Using the more than 1,500 data points from public input on the program options, the internal team and our partners evaluated pros and cons of each and quickly developed a flexible program to meet the needs of restaurants across the city. It’s success is a testament to the innovative spirit of the city, our residents, and businesses.””
The City continues to accept & process new applications for outdoor dining expansions; as well as feedback from the public. Local residents are encouraged to support these businesses — with a reminder of the importance of respecting safety guidelines while enjoying reopening public areas.
More information on the Pop-Up Dining program and guidelines can be found at cityoffrederickmd.gov/popupdining.