Los Altos restaurants must replace sidewalk tables with wood or metal

Los Altos officials OK’d sidewalk restaurant enclosures in the downtown triangle last week but placed a prohibition on plastic outdoor furniture in an effort to create

a more uniform streetscape

during a time when merchants say they are desperate for more foot traffic.

Until now, the city had not applied design guidelines to street furniture. Merchants who wanted to use sidewalk space in the public right-of-way in front of their shops only had to show proof of insurance and maintain walkway clearance standards in order to secure an encroachment permit from the public works department for signage and other decorative displays.

The new Sidewalk Display Program shifts the permit process to the Community Development Department and puts in place a set of standards intended to make downtown’s appearance more uniform.

This means business owners will have to phase out chairs, tables, signs, planters and other plastic streetside furniture over the next six months or risk losing their right to use the sidewalk in front of their storefronts.

Under city discretion, restau-rant owners may enclose the sidewalk in front of their buildings with railings that attach to the restaurant as long as there is a five-foot clearance between the dining area and the street.