Huntington Town Restaurants Can Now Use Street For Outdoor Dining

HUNTINGTON, NY — The Huntington Town Board, at its meeting last week, discussed a new in-street outdoor dining option as a means to expand recovery resources for restaurants and businesses, the town announced Tuesday.

The board approved a new "street dining" option introduced by Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci for restaurants seeking to expand their outdoor dining into a road’s shoulder or parking lane.

The board also extended the approval process for outdoor dining and retail on sidewalks and the Zoning Board of Appeals approval process for outdoor dining on private property from 2020 into 2021.

"As outdoor gathering limits expand more rapidly than indoor limits, we are providing flexibility for food establishments that are eligible to safely expand their outdoor dining footprint past the sidewalk into the street with our new Parklet program," Lupinacci said.

Outdoor dining parklet applications can be found on the Town of Huntington's Business Reopening Resources page and are processed by the Traffic Safety Division. The entire application process is free as long as the application doesn't involve a metered parking lane. If the application involves state roads, the applicant must submit an application to the New York State Department Of Transportation first; then to the town. All applications and instructions on parklets can be found on the town's site.

At the meeting's opening, Councilman Ed Smyth called for a moment of silence to honor the life of Fred Amore, vice chairperson of the Town’s Veterans Advisory Board, who died in late February. Amore, a Vietnam combat veteran, served on the Veterans Advisory Board since 2005, representing Elwood/Commack Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9263, for which he served as Commander for more than 20 years.