Teuta outdoor dining plans postponed again

By Grace Lovins

For the second time, plans for an outdoor dining platform outside of Teuta, a brunch restaurant 168 W Maple Road in Birmingham, have been postponed at the city’s planning board level due to issues with the parking situation where the platform is being proposed and the submitted plans reviewed by the board during the Wednesday, June 11, meeting also lacked required details.

Teuta is looking to add an outdoor dining platform to their business in the W Maple right-of-way, said city planner Leah Blizinski, with room for four tables and twelve chairs total. Blizinski said the restaurant is currently near two outdoor dining platforms already on W Maple: Dick o’ Dows down the street from Teuta as well as the recently approved platform for Cafe Origins across the street.

After the board’s last review of the proposed plans during the Wednesday, May 7, meeting, the owners of Teuta adjusted their plans to add an additional four chairs to the platform. One key detail that remained the same was the loss of an ADA accessible parking spot on the street for the platform to take its place. If the space is eligible to be lost, Blizinski said, Teuta would be required to reimburse the city for the loss of the space.

Blizinski also said that while city staff has received some details on items like the umbrellas and heaters, they were not received on time to be included in the meeting packet reviewed by the board. The plans included in the packet also did not match the current parking layout of the area.

Nearly all of the planning board members commented that they would not be comfortable with the loss of an ADA accessible parking space and were concerned about the concept of relocating an ADA parking space for the purpose of having an outdoor dining platform. Some board members also indicated that the restaurant having a platform in close proximity to two other existing platforms could cause traffic issues.

Board member Stuart Jeffares offered that Teuta could potentially pursue outdoor dining on the sidewalk rather than the street as the width of the sidewalk in that area would allow for enough room to hold some tables and chairs.

Chair Scott Clein, in response to the daughter of the restaurant owners who attended the meeting, said that they could also potentially pursue the parking space behind the proposed platform but would need written approval of the land owner adjacent to Teuta to get approval from the city.

Ultimately, the board voted 7-0 to postpone Teuta’s plans for an outdoor dining platform without a set date so the owners had the necessary time to decide how they want to proceed.