After going through several revision processes, a proposed ordinance to allow sidewalk cafes in downtown Traverse City received final approval from city commissioners last night and will go into effect on April 1, 2015. The ordinance requires restaurant owners who want to use city sidewalks for outdoor dining space to maintain a minimum five-foot-wide sidewalk clearance, remove outdoor furniture when not in operation and take responsibility for on-site trash removal. In addition, restaurants who are cited for two or more ordinance violations in a given season will lose their cafe permit for the following year. Permits to operate sidewalk cafes are $165 annually for restaurants with alcohol service or $110 for those without.

Commissioners also unanimously voted to authorize a $232,000 contract with Ann Arbor-based firm SmithGroup JJR for consultation services on a planned Traverse City Public Pier at the mouth of the Boardman River on Grand Traverse Bay. Though some commissioners - including Barbara Budros and Gary Howe - expressed concerns about the location of the pier, its accessibility and its integration into the surrounding area, Mayor Michael Estes noted SmithGroup JJR's first task will be to study precisely those issues, as well as gather public input to determine how and where the project should move forward. The firm is charged with conducting field investigations, shorelines studies, public outreach, design development, preliminary engineering and permitting and construction drawings for the pier. Contract costs will be fully covered by a grant from the Great Lakes Fishery Trust.

Finally, commissioners delayed voting on a potential three-year economic development agreement with the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and Grand Traverse County for two weeks due to incomplete materials in their packets. Multiple commissioners were either missing support documents or received incomplete documents and requested additional time to review the agreement. The proposal calls for the city, DDA and GT County to each provide $10,000 to fund joint economic development services through the GT County Planning and Development Department.