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Greensboro Looks To Expand Outdoor Dining To Public Streets, Sidewalks

Downtown Greensboro. KERI BROWN/WFDD

As restaurants gradually begin to reopen, Greensboro patrons may soon have more outdoor dining options.  

Greensboro City Council approved a plan on Thursday that would allow temporary dining areas on streets, sidewalks, and on-street parking areas.

Restaurants would need to apply for a special event permit to offer outdoor dining.

This coincides with Phase Two of Governor Roy Cooper's plan to ease restrictions on area businesses. It begins at 5 p.m. Friday and allows restaurants to reopen at 50 percent capacity and with socially distanced seating areas.

Expanding dining areas to outdoor spaces allows restaurants to create more seating and helps generate additional revenue.

The News and Record reports the city will try to expedite the special events permits, which normally require a 60-day waiting period.

Restaurant owners can also apply for an ABC Temporary Extension alcohol permit for expanded outdoor areas.  

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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