By Lookout Staff

February 5, 2025 -- The City will waive outdoor dining fees during February to help local businesses weather the fallout of the recent Palisades Fire.

Under a supplement to its Emergency Order, outdoor dining areas, sidewalk dining, parklets and pier deck extended dining can operate for the month without paying the usual fee.

The order covers the 101 local businesses enrolled in outdoor dining programs that were implemented as pilot programs during the coronavirus shutdown.

Their success prompted the City Council to make the programs permanent in October 2022.

"The City is committed to supporting our local businesses, and as a small business owner, I understand first hand how a disaster can reverberate across a business community,” Mayor Lana Negrete said in a statement Wednesday.

“Waiving outdoor dining fees this month can provide much needed relief as we recover, and I encourage everyone to support our local restaurants, shops, hotels and businesses and enjoy everything our beautiful city has to offer.”

The City's outdoor dining programs were implemented in 2022 as part of
changes that permanently eased zoning restrictions that "had been shown to create unnecessarily difficult review processes for simple changes of use," City staff said at the time.

"As permanently adopted, these zoning changes will provide greater certainty and predictability for property owners and their existing tenants, along with prospective businesses considering locating in Santa Monica," officials said.

The city’s emergency proclamation issued in response to the Palisades Fire "remains in place to ensure the continued support of regional wildfire recovery," officials said.

The Emergency Order was updated on January 31 "to provide additional flexibility to schools and businesses that were impacted or displaced by wildfires and to refine criteria for housing support for fire victims," officials said.

For information and resources for businesses affected by the regional fires, click here.