OLCC fast-tracks restaurant, bar applications to expand alcohol sales to city sidewalks, streets

Bantam Tavern is a new bar in Northwest Portland.

Named for the diminutive chicken, Bantam Tavern hopes to expand its seating area into an adjacent parking lot when Multnomah County enters Oregon's Phase 1 reopening.Michael Russell | The Oregonian

In a move that could help Oregon restaurants and bars comply with state-mandated social distancing guidelines, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission has begun fast-tracking applications to expand the sale of alcohol to sidewalks, streets and nearby parking lots.

Previously, Oregon restaurants and bars hoping to expand their service area were required to go through a back and forth with the OLCC, providing plenty of documentation along the way. The streamlined application, available on the agency’s website since Friday, only asks current liquor license holders to draw or describe the area they hope to annex, and “affirm and attest” that they have received permission from landlords or local government bodies to do so. The application generates an auto reply allowing the business to operate in the new area.

Still, the new system is "not just a free hall pass,” said OLCC compliance specialist Bryant Haley. “We’re going to go back and look at these.”

The additional privilege is open to any licensed restaurant, bar, brewpub, wine tasting room or distillery in an Oregon county approved for reopening under the state’s Phase 1 guidelines, though businesses in Washington and Multnomah counties are encouraged to start the application process now. Applicants are asked to draw or describe the additional seating area, which can include nearby sidewalks, streets or common areas, and to affirm they received permission to expand from the landlord or local government. If the new area does not abut the already licensed service area, only staff are allowed to carry alcoholic beverages between the two zones. All OLCC regulations continue to apply in the new area.

Reached Wednesday in Eugene, where he had just finished off a “burger worth driving 100 miles for” at Rennie’s Landing, Portland bar owner Dan Hart hadn’t yet heard of the streamlined application. But he said his team was investigating every angle to expand seating at his bars, which -- with no bar seating allowed and six feet of distancing between tables -- would be forced to operate at about 30 percent capacity during Phase 1.

Earlier this month, Hart and his team filed paperwork to expand the seating at Northwest Portland’s pint-sized Bantam Tavern, which would have room for about two tables indoors. Hart’s spoke with his neighbor, Swagat owner Srimanth Chinnam, then got permission from his landlord to turn four parking spots in the shared lot at Northwest 21st Avenue and Lovejoy Street into a small beer garden, adding about six tables to Bantam’s service area.

“We realized very early on that we were fortunate to have a parking lot, otherwise we would be in quite a predicament,” Hart said. “The bar is called Bantam Tavern for a reason -- it’s small and feisty.”

Hart said he will probably use the fast-tracked application to expand the service area at the smaller of his two German beer bars, Stammtisch (the other, Prost, sits next to a large patio and food cart pod).

Some of the rule changes enacted by the OLCC since Gov. Kate Brown shut restaurant and bar dining rooms across the state on March 17 could end up sticking around, according to OLCC spokesman Mark Pettinger.

“On the alcohol side, we’re moving from fossilized to modernized,” Pettinger said, comparing the regulations on alcohol to those for marijuana. “This is almost like a trial period for a lot of these temporary rules, changes and processes. So if they go well, and if the stakeholders are in agreement, and decide there’s a public good, and a benefit to these kinds of things, there’s a chance that these things become permanent.”

Across the United States, cities including Berkeley, Tampa, Florida and Portland, Maine have closed streets or offered temporary permits for outdoor seating to help businesses comply with social distancing guidelines. Newberg in Yamhill County was among the first Oregon cities to reach out to the OLCC about the possibility of expanding restaurant seating into its sidewalks and streets, Pettinger said.

As part of its Safe Streets initiative, the Portland (Oregon) Bureau of Transportation has rolled out an application to turn parking spots into temporary pickup/dropoff zones for restaurants serving takeout. According to Hart, a neighbor has inquired about closing restaurant-packed Northeast 28th Avenue -- the street in front of Stammtisch -- to weekend car traffic during the coronavirus crisis.

For Hart, who was visiting Eugene Wednesday to see how the reopening rollout was faring in Lane County, said his businesses are “ready to go” as soon as Multnomah County enters Phase 1. And he praised the OLCC, saying he “doesn’t have a lot to complain about” when it comes to some of the swift changes the agency has made.

“The biggest thing we’ve been hoping for the past two months has been cocktails to-go,” Hart said. “Otherwise they’ve been pretty phenomenal in making sure that we can operate and be as successful as possible.”

-- Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell

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