Is citywide outdoor dining coming to Chula Vista?

Chula Vista may consider a citywide outdoor dining ordinance, but first it is ordering the removal of several parklets from its buzzing downtown avenue.

On Tuesday, city leaders agreed to formalize a subcommittee that would draft ideas for a policy at their next meeting. Such a law would then require approval from the City Council.

Mayor John McCann, who spearheaded the idea, said a citywide ordinance would offer uniformity and an opportunity for all interested establishments across Chula Vista to pursue outdoor dining.

Besides Third Avenue, he envisions seeing sidewalk or sidewalk-adjacent setups by the forthcoming bayfront hotel and convention center, Broadway and east Chula Vista. McCann said the city could take ideas from other cities with outdoor dining policies.

The effort would come as multiple businesses along Third Avenue prepare to take down their outdoor patios by the first week of September.

Restaurants, breweries and cafes have had their set-ups since the pandemic. In 2021, the city mandated establishments take them down or replace them with permitted, public-right-of-way and ADA-compliant ones.

To help businesses with the changes, the city used $300,000 in federal stimulus dollars to develop a grant program that would reimburse businesses for the costs of designing, permitting and constructing their setups along the avenue.

But city officials said the initiative was temporary and it was time to look for fresh o...