The DC Council will vote on Councilmember Charles Allen’s (Ward 6) emergency and temporary legislation to make immediate changes to the cost and design restrictions for DDOT’s streateries rules.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 2, 2025
Contact: Erik Salmi
202-445-0834

Today, the DC Council will vote on Councilmember Charles Allen’s (Ward 6) emergency and temporary legislation to make immediate changes to the cost and design restrictions for DDOT’s streateries rules, with the goal of ensuring streateries remain a viable tool for restaurants and an opportunity to enliven street life. The meeting will begin around noon and will be streamed here.

The emergency bill makes three significant changes DDOT’s rules.

First, it provides a clear timeline for when enforcement under the regulations can begin. Businesses have been forced to make decisions around applying, hiring an architect to design, and purchasing materials, as well as removing an existing streatery, based on rules not yet in effect and with no clear understanding of when enforcement would begin.

Second, to address concerns noted by many DC-based restaurants, Allen’s legislation lowers the price per square foot to $15, placing it slightly higher than the cost charged for an enclosed sidewalk, but lower than DDOT’s proposed $20 per square foot, which many restaurants said was unworkable.

Third, many restaurant operators are concerned about how to comply with the restrictions on streatery design, especially being able to enclose their streatery for shelter against bad weather, placement, and the number of seats. This legislation creates a clear preference in law for streateries and encourages the Public Space Committee, which approves all streatery applications, to grant exemptions to businesses related to placement and enclosures to ensure that dining can comfortably take place year-round in as many locations as possible. This is a reversal of the current proposed rules by DDOT that would forbid side or rooftop enclosures that make streateries viable more days out of the year.

“A good streatery helps a neighborhood restaurant succeed while creating a vibrant block,” said Councilmember Allen, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment. “We need rules, and businesses want clear guidance on streateries. But we heard loud and clear last month at the Committee’s roundtable on the program that DDOT’s proposed rules missed the mark on the cost and limited designs that would effectively guarantee a streatery can’t be viable for many months of the year – despite significant cost. The point here isn’t to squeeze as much money out of businesses as possible, but to find the right policy so restaurants can affordably invest in quality streateries, safely integrated into the neighborhoods around them.”

These changes follow a November 6 Committee roundtable, when multiple restaurants and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington testified in favor of changes that could ensure the program worked for a wide range of restaurants.

“We thank Councilmember Charles Allen for introducing the Streatery Program Emergency Amendment Act of 2025," said Shawn Townsend, President and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW). “The introduction of this legislation reflects an understanding that the District must establish a streatery program that is workable, predictable, and supportive of the local businesses that rely on it. RAMW looks forward to working with the full Council, the Administration, DDOT, and neighborhood stakeholders to strengthen and refine the program. There is significant opportunity for additional improvements that will better support restaurants in all eight wards and ensure streateries remain a vibrant and accessible part of the District’s dining landscape."

Emergency legislation requires nine votes to pass and remains in effect for 90 days. A companion Temporary legislation remains in effect for 225 days, ensuring the changes will remain in effect as the program is implemented in early 2026.