“This terrace is illegal (...) even if it has received the agreement of its merchant neighbors. (...) No means are given to town halls to withdraw it. "
It is with these words that the mayor of the 17th arrondissement of Paris, Geoffroy Boulard had regretted this Sunday, May 16 the lack of power at its disposal to force restaurants to limit the size of their ephemeral terraces. If it has since succeeded in making the establishment in question listen to reason, other restaurants and bistros in the capital sometimes extend their terraces over an entire street, with the agreement of adjacent shops. A method tolerated by current regulations, but which annoys local residents' associations on the eve of the reopening of bars and restaurants on Wednesday, May 19.
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Today, and until next June 30, no text really frames the size that ephemeral terraces in Paris can occupy.
The charter that restaurateurs must sign to install one of these terraces simply stipulates that they must not be installed in front of a residential ground floor.
But with the permission of neighboring businesses, terraces can be set up in front of their stores, which can lead to installations of several tens of meters in length.
"Totally anarchic"
"
These terraces are completely anarchic
," annoys Gilles Pourbaix, president of the network of local residents' associations Vivre Paris.
Everyone has their own small construction, there is no consistency, some are installing roofs or terraces that are more than 1.30m high, which is forbidden ... "
" We are witnessing some completely crazy thing is that in addition to our current difficulties, we are yelled at by passers-by because of our ephemeral terraces ”
, replies an owner of three restaurants in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.
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Today to build an ephemeral terrace, Parisian restaurateurs just have to declare it to the town hall. And except - very rare - notice to the contrary, they can install it as they wish. "
The town hall of Paris has no means of controlling these terraces
," explains one to the office of the mayor of the 17th arrondissement, Geoffroy Boulard.
They are already understaffed in normal times, so controlling all these ephemeral installations is impossible.
"And to add that the situation is already"
very hot
"between some establishments and residents"
who suffered a lot from these terraces last summer
".
At the town hall of the 17th district, a weekly meeting specifically dedicated to the subject of terraces will be held this week, in particular with agents from the Prevention, Security and Protection Directorate (DPSP), responsible for monitoring terraces.
New charter
For its part, the mayor of Paris defends itself: "
This charter which runs until the end of June was published as a matter of urgency last year to allow the use of outdoor spaces as quickly and very flexibly as possible,"
explains Olivia Polski, deputy in charge of trade.
But we are now working on entering a new framework this summer.
On July 1, in fact, restaurateurs will have to sign a new charter which will be unveiled in the coming days, and which will make it possible to perpetuate these new terraces for years to come. Several consultations have taken place in recent weeks between professionals in the sector and the town hall of Paris to define the outlines. The last meeting, which will ratify the new charter, will take place this Tuesday evening, and the idea is in particular to "
fix an aesthetic and clean framework"
according to Olivia Polski.
According to our information, restaurant owners could in particular be asked not to exceed three parking spaces in front of their establishment: the one opposite and the two adjacent. As is already the case today, establishments will not be able to install their terrace on a handicapped place, a place reserved for bicycles or scooters, a delivery place. They will not be able to cover their terraces either and will have to leave a passage for emergency vehicles. In addition, the town hall is working on a system of graduated sanctions for restaurateurs who do not respect the instructions. The DPSP teams will first pass through to mediate, then to issue a ticket, and finally to withdraw the authorization to install a terrace.
Read also: Terraces in Paris: a hundred streets could be pedestrianized this summer
Gilles Pourbaix, president of the network of residents' associations Vivre Paris, regrets, however, that the opinion of residents was not heard more during the consultations for the implementation of this new charter.
“
We told the mayor of Paris not to make this revision of the regulation of the display of terraces in an emergency, to wait until October
,” he explains.
All this is not an easy task, it could double, or even triple, the surface area granted to terraces in Paris, and therefore generate many new nuisances.
"According to Gilles Pourbaix,"
the least of the things was to make a diagnosis of past situations, but the town hall of Paris showed last summer its inability to manage these terraces. But we were not listened to at all, our presence just gave a little stamp of democracy.
“Whatever happens, the situation could be a little tense during your first half on the terrace.