Restaurants with outdoor dining facilities
Summertime is outdoor dining time. Right at the beginning of the open air season the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth has submitted a draft law providing for important changes to the regulation of outdoor dining facilities. Under certain conditions restaurateurs should no longer be required to apply for a licence to establish an outdoor dining area.
The draft law focuses on outdoor dining areas having a maximum seating capacity of 100. The scope of the business would be limited to the sale of food and beverages; neither music nor barbecues would be allowed unless a special licence had been issued. Outdoor dining areas located on public land or next to public traffic zones would be allowed to open from 8am to 11pm. On private properties the outdoor dining area would be able to operate without a special licence from 9am to 10pm. Local authorities would, however, have the right to extend the opening hours.
The Austrian Ombudsman Board has reservations about such an amendment since it gives priority to the interests of restaurateurs but disregards the needs of the neighbourhood. Time and again, people living near outdoor dining areas contact the Austrian Ombudsman Board to complain about the noise nuisance and the lack of support by the trade authorities. Already today police are reaching their limits when carrying out the checks provided for by law.
From the Austrian Ombudsman Board’s point of view, in too many cases no operating licence would be required at all. In order to protect the occupiers of adjoining property, the Austrian Ombudsman Board suggests that outdoor dining areas should close by 10pm or 9pm and that the seating capacity should be reduced by fifty percent. Restaurateurs may welcome exceptions from the provisions governing operating facilities and so may the authorities on grounds of debureaucratization. As regards the legal system, such exceptions are definitely a problem. This is why the Austrian Ombudsman Board will keep an eye on how the draft law is being dealt with.