Blaine’s New Outdoor Dining Policy

Blaine’s restaurant sector has been hard hit by the restrictions necessary to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the Blaine City Council held an emergency meeting and passed a new policy that allows temporary outdoor dining at Blaine restaurants. The new policy streamlines the process for restaurants to quickly expand current outdoor seating areas or create new outdoor seating. This policy was designed to make the process as easy as possible so restaurants could begin outdoor dining on June 1. The policy was updated to reflect changes as the state moved into phase three of the Stay Safe MN plan on June 10.

Under the new policy restaurants may serve customers using the six feet of social distance requirement for each group of up to six people at 50 percent of the restaurant’s capacity, not to exceed 250 individuals, for indoors and outdoors settings each.

Reservations: RequiredMasks: Required for workers, strongly recommended for customers.

Restaurants may not operate between 1AM and 7AM. If the restaurant is within 200 feet of a residential area, they must close outdoor dining by 10PM.

The Blaine community is showing great support for local restaurants during this pandemic by using curbside pick and take out options. People who feel comfortable doing so, can now continue to support the favorite restaurants by using the indoor and outdoor dining options.

The policy and the application form are available at BlaineMN.gov/Planning