The city of Doral said Thursday that they will not be applying to extend a permit that would extend street closures and ultimately let restaurants keep expanded outdoor dining.
Closing off streets to expand outdoor seating was especially helpful when capacity restrictions and social distancing requirements were hurting businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The special permits for these street closures are set to expire at the end of this month. These permits were issued under an emergency permit category due to COVID-19, but Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order gets rid of all remaining COVID emergency orders by July 1, which means those special street permits will expire too.
Miami-Dade County says city leaders can reapply for the permits under a non-pandemic permit category. Those requests will be expedited, according to the county.
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The city of Doral will not be applying for a permit to extend the street closure along NW 53rd Street.
"We, during this period of COVID, didn't have a problem closing off that main road for a time period, because it helped the businesses. Now the businesses are at more than 100% capacity, and eventually, the outdoor dining permits that we've given will go back to the normal rules probably in about four or five months," Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez said. "I think that the decision really is downtown Doral, along with the vendors in that area, they certainly have a right to talk to Miami-Dade County, who is the entity that would make the decision whether or not that main road could be permanently closed."
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The Department of Transportation and Public Works says it’s been coordinating with cities that originally requested the street closures to figure out the best path forward, including Miami, Miami Beach and Coral Gables.
A spokesperson with Miami Beach said has not received any formal notification from the county that the permits are set to expire at the end of the month, but they believe that the county will work with the cities on a process to extend them.
