Outdoor Dining Areas

Smokers in Los Angeles lost another refuge Wednesday when the City Council unanimously approved a ban on lighting up in outdoor cafes, food courts and around the city's ubiquitous mobile food trucks. With the move, city officials are following the lead of municipalities across California, including Burbank, Beverly Hills, Calabasas and Santa Monica, which already ban smoking in outdoor dining areas. California law bars smoking inside restaurants and bars. The ordinance prohibits smoking within 10 feet of outdoor dining areas and within 40 feet of mobile food trucks.

After discarded cigarettes caused fire damage at the historic Santa Monica Pier, the City Council voted this week to snuff out smoking on the century-old landmark. Smoking has been allowed in nine designated areas on the pier. But on April 30, a blaze caused by an unextinguished cigarette in a designated smoking area resulted in damage to about 30 square feet of the structure and threatened a restaurant, according to Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of Pier Restoration Corp.

Re "Surf City bone of contention," Oct. 20 Dog owners who take their dogs everywhere create a public nuisance and do their pets a disservice as well. Owners who take their dogs to crowded places fail to consider the experience from their pets' perspective. Busy shopping areas, piers and outdoor dining areas -- environments designed to appeal to people -- offer no proper place for dogs to pee or poop. While owners enjoy texting and tweeting from a favorite espresso house, the dog -- now being ignored -- is bored.

Smokers in Los Angeles lost another refuge Wednesday when the City Council unanimously approved a ban on lighting up in outdoor cafes, food courts and around the city's ubiquitous mobile food trucks. With the move, city officials are following the lead of municipalities across California, including Burbank, Beverly Hills, Calabasas and Santa Monica, which already ban smoking in outdoor dining areas. California law bars smoking inside restaurants and bars. The ordinance prohibits smoking within 10 feet of outdoor dining areas and within 40 feet of mobile food trucks.

WHILE the Kids on Board column highlighted parents who discipline their children ("Before Mom, Pop and Tots Wear Out Their Welcome," April 2], many young parents today and even grandparents ignore their unruly kids. At the very least, restaurant hostesses and hosts should seat these diners away from the center of the dining room. However, one of the newest nagging problems when dining out is the fact that outdoor dining areas of popular eating establishments have been taken over by lonely dog owners and their animals.

Despite pleas by some downtown restaurant owners, the city will impose fees on eateries that use sidewalks and other public areas for outdoor dining. Michele Turner, owner of the Sugar Shack, told the City Council this week that the user fees may be too steep for some restaurants, many of which are already struggling to stay open. "I'm begging you to be fair," Turner said. "I want to be able to charge 50 cents for a cup of coffee. . . . Don't try and nickel and dime everybody."

What, exactly, is outdoor dining? The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission answered that question Monday night, when it approved changing the outdoor customer dining ordinance to include a specific definition of what constitutes indoor and outdoor dining areas. The proposed change now goes to the City Council for a final vote.

A request by Councilwoman Linda Parks to waive an outdoor dining permit fee for small businesses that add three or fewer tables will be studied by the city's budget task force before coming back to the council for consideration. Parks said the city's $1,600 fee--levied whether a business wants to add one or 20 tables--is onerous for small restaurants along Thousand Oaks Boulevard and may be why few have added small outdoor dining areas.

As warmer weather arrives and restaurant patios begin to appeal to diners, Thousand Oaks officials have proposed a new ordinance on outside dining areas. Planning commissioners approved the draft ordinance earlier this week and sent it to the City Council for consideration. The proposal regulates outdoor smoking, street setbacks and sign placement on awnings and umbrellas.

After discarded cigarettes caused fire damage at the historic Santa Monica Pier, the City Council voted this week to snuff out smoking on the century-old landmark. Smoking has been allowed in nine designated areas on the pier. But on April 30, a blaze caused by an unextinguished cigarette in a designated smoking area resulted in damage to about 30 square feet of the structure and threatened a restaurant, according to Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of Pier Restoration Corp.

Re "Surf City bone of contention," Oct. 20 Dog owners who take their dogs everywhere create a public nuisance and do their pets a disservice as well. Owners who take their dogs to crowded places fail to consider the experience from their pets' perspective. Busy shopping areas, piers and outdoor dining areas -- environments designed to appeal to people -- offer no proper place for dogs to pee or poop. While owners enjoy texting and tweeting from a favorite espresso house, the dog -- now being ignored -- is bored.

From the outside, Boa Steakhouse's new digs on Sunset Boulevard don't look too promising: a sleek, anonymous office building close to the West Hollywood-Beverly Hills border with a valet station out front. Give up the Sunset Strip for this? That wondering makes the stunning space on the other side of the door even more surprising than it already is. Wow and double wow. Don't even think about eating inside.

A suspicious package shut down traffic along the 241 toll road for more than two hours Wednesday afternoon before the object was finally removed by the Orange County Sheriff's Department bomb squad. The trouble began about 3 p.m. when a passerby told authorities that a box had been placed next to an emergency call box on the tollway near the 91 Freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol. CHP officers went to the scene and called in the sheriff's bomb squad after finding that the box was labeled "explosive device," authorities said.

Dining alfresco at a Beverly Hills eatery can mean lingering over a gourmet meal and a bottle of fine wine. But enjoying a leisurely smoke at the cafe table will soon be a faux pas. That's because the Beverly Hills City Council unanimously gave final approval Tuesday night to an ordinance snuffing out smoking in nearly all outdoor dining areas. Diners can still light up this summer.

WHILE the Kids on Board column highlighted parents who discipline their children ("Before Mom, Pop and Tots Wear Out Their Welcome," April 2], many young parents today and even grandparents ignore their unruly kids. At the very least, restaurant hostesses and hosts should seat these diners away from the center of the dining room. However, one of the newest nagging problems when dining out is the fact that outdoor dining areas of popular eating establishments have been taken over by lonely dog owners and their animals.

A request by Councilwoman Linda Parks to waive an outdoor dining permit fee for small businesses that add three or fewer tables will be studied by the city's budget task force before coming back to the council for consideration. Parks said the city's $1,600 fee--levied whether a business wants to add one or 20 tables--is onerous for small restaurants along Thousand Oaks Boulevard and may be why few have added small outdoor dining areas.

Each night at the stroke of 12, liquor will vanish from the outdoor dining patios at the thronged Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica under a new alcohol curfew. The curfew--with no liquor sold outdoors after 11:30 p.m. or allowed on the tables after midnight--was imposed by the Santa Monica City Council on Tuesday night in a move to put a damper on late-night revelry along the Promenade.

Despite pleas by some downtown restaurant owners, the city will impose fees on eateries that use sidewalks and other public areas for outdoor dining. Michele Turner, owner of the Sugar Shack, told the City Council this week that the user fees may be too steep for some restaurants, many of which are already struggling to stay open. "I'm begging you to be fair," Turner said. "I want to be able to charge 50 cents for a cup of coffee. . . . Don't try and nickel and dime everybody."