On this first weekend of deconfinement, many are now impatiently awaiting the reopening of bars and restaurants. In the green zone, the French should (finally) be able to enjoy the terraces from June 2. But the rules of social distancing raise the question of the very layout of these establishments. In principle, it is one person per 4 m2 and not more than 10 people in a room, according to the national deconfinement protocol.
Already heavily impacted by more than two months of closure, professionals in the sector denounce measures that are impossible to take and that do not encourage the restart of their activity. “ We refuse any reopening of our establishments with the distancing requirement of 4 m2 per person. We are working on solutions so that the health of customers and employees is ensured without the reception capacity of our establishments being thus divided by 4 ", wrote on May 15 the GNI (national grouping of independent hotel and restaurant) in a communicated.
In Germany, after two months of closure, some cafes and restaurants were allowed to reopen earlier this week. To enforce physical distancing, one of them found a trick in equipping his customers with… “fried hats”.
On parking spaces or on streets closed to traffic
More seriously, in France, several large cities are planning to allow bistros, restaurateurs and cafetiers, to extend their terrace onto public space. As a reminder, it is the town halls which set the rules, on their territory, regarding the occupation of public roads. In Paris, the mayor PS Anne Hidalgo has promised that she would authorize those who request it to enlarge their terrace “ free of charge ”: either by encroaching on parking spaces, or by closing entire streets to traffic, “ for a weekend ”.
These derogations would however be temporary. “ This is an ephemeral emergency measure, in no case a lasting transformation or a privatization of public space; the installations must be as light as possible, ”warns Jean-Louis Missika, assistant in charge of town planning in Paris, quoted in the JDD.
The Lyon metropolis plans to do the same. In its deconfinement plan, the agglomeration governed by Gérard Collomb wishes to encourage the municipalities " to exempt cafes, bars and restaurants from the public domain occupancy rights for their terraces and allow, when possible, a wider influence of the terrace "
In Nantes and Toulouse, cafes and restaurants are also calling for a widening of the terraces in order to compensate for the financial losses linked to confinement. The town halls have not yet officially pronounced on this subject.
But after two months of exceptional calm in the cities, this extension of the terraces will not be without posing a problem of noise pollution. Local residents' associations could make their voices heard.
