ENCINITAS — The City Council has extended a temporary outdoor dining program through July 1, 2027, allowing restaurants to continue operating dining areas in both private parking lots and public right-of-way parking spaces while staff develops a permanent ordinance.
The city currently charges businesses operating outdoor dining areas in public parking spaces $2.58 per square foot per month, billed annually. The fee generated approximately $209,000 in General Fund revenue over the past year, according to city documents.
Outdoor dining now occupies 42 private parking spaces at seven businesses citywide and 47 public parking spaces along Highway 101 at 18 businesses. Of the private parking spaces, 22 are in Cardiff, 13 are in Leucadia, and seven are in downtown Encinitas.
Of the public parking spaces, 39 are in downtown Encinitas, and eight are in Leucadia.
The city has long wrestled with opposition from downtown retailers over its outdoor dining policy, some of whom reported a loss of business because customers were unable to park near their storefronts.
In October 2024, the city produced a parking study on the impacts of outdoor dining on parking in Encinitas, finding that while outdoor dining spaces in downtown Encinitas have reduced the parking supply, ample parking remains within a reasonable walking distance during peak business hours.
Senior Planner and Mobility Coordinator Evan Jedynak said city staff will work with community members and the city attorney’s office to prepare a permanent outdoor dining ordinance, which is expected to return to the council in late 2026 or early 2027.
The city’s outdoor dining program began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when state and local emergency orders allowed restaurants to expand into parking lots and public parking spaces to offset indoor dining restrictions. Since then, the state has repeatedly extended regulatory relief measures, including legislation signed in 2025 that permanently removed the expiration date for waivers of private parking requirements associated with pandemic-era outdoor dining.
As a result, the seven existing outdoor dining operations in private parking lots may continue indefinitely at their current footprints under state law. If the city later adopts limits on private parking lot dining, those existing operations would be considered legal nonconforming uses and effectively grandfathered in.
Mark Dobbins, an owner of The Roxy, said that while he understood concerns about lost parking, outdoor dining had helped sustain businesses in downtown Encinitas.
“These patios coming out of Covid were just a godsend for us,” he said. “We probably would’ve gone out of business without them.”
Dobbins urged the council to consider creative parking solutions, including valet service, as part of a permanent ordinance.
The council unanimously approved the extension at its May 27 meeting.
Councilmember Joy Lyndes said that “constituents who talk to me love it” of outdoor dining.
She said she supports exploring alternatives such as shared parking agreements between neighboring businesses that operate at different hours, citing the area around The Shanty in Cardiff-by-the-Sea.
“I see so many ways we can solve this without creating more asphalt for cars,” she said.
Lyndes and Mayor Bruce Ehlers were the only current council members who voted on the issue when it last came before the council.
Ehlers said he opposed the extension in 2023 because he wanted limits on how many parking spaces could be converted to outdoor dining on each block.
“What I’d like to see going forward is some limit on how many spaces can be taken per block so we keep some nearby parking to support the non-restaurant, non-alcohol businesses down there,” Ehlers said.
He noted that the number of public parking spaces occupied by outdoor dining has declined from its peak, in part because businesses now pay for the use of public spaces that had been offered free during the pandemic.
Ehlers also said a permanent program should include more permanent design features.
“A true permanent solution,” he said, should include built improvements that make outdoor dining areas appear intentional rather than temporary.
Councilmember Marco San Antonio also supported exploring additional parking options, including the potential use of the City Hall parking lot.
“It’s such a big parking lot and you’re one block away,” he said.
San Antonio, who owns a business on South Coast Highway 101, said neighboring business owners still express concerns about losing parking spaces, particularly retailers and service businesses that do not directly benefit from outdoor dining.
Still, he said the program has enhanced the atmosphere along Highway 101.
“I think it definitely does create a lively place,” San Antonio said. “You drive past Biergarden, you drive past Roxy, you do see so many people out there having such a great time.
“I think it definitely adds something to the 101.”
Under the permanent ordinance now being drafted, the city could consider limits on the size or number of outdoor dining areas, particularly in the public right-of-way.
Staff noted that while state law protects existing private parking lot dining operations, the city retains authority over issues such as noise, drainage, signage, materials, enclosures and structure design.
