BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Several restaurants in downtown Bellingham are being forced to scale back or eliminate their streateries to comply with the city's new regulations.
How much the move will cut into business remains to be seen.
Chas Kubis picks through the back of his pickup truck, sorting through what used to be half of his restaurant's streatery. Between the back of his truck and what he has at home, Kubis said he has enough wood to build a small house.
"This is barely 1% of it," Kubis said. "lt's always frustrating to lose half your outdoor seating."
The streatery was 44 by 16 feet, but now it is 44 by 8 feet. His outdoor seating was cut in half.
Kubis said in the spring and summer the streatery is 40% of the business at his Black Sheep taco bar.
"We had 50 seats out here," Kubis said. "When you're filling that up on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, that's a huge revenue generator."
Kubis' is one of four restaurants in the heart of downtown Bellingham being forced to cut back or cut down their streateries.
When they were installed during the pandemic along busy Holly Street in the city's downtown core, the number of lanes on Holly Street went from three to two.
Then, in May, the city installed a new bike lane -- cutting the number of traffic lanes to just one -- causing traffic back ups and complaints from drivers.
Now, to open another lane for cars, the streateries, a lifeline for restaurants over the past four years, have to reduce their footprint.
When asked if city planners should have known this could happen Bellingham's Interim Deputy Public Works Director, Joel Pfundt responds, "The intent prior to the bike lane going in was to remove the streateries from the vehicle travel lane and this was the latest piece to make that happen. The streateries were never meant to be permanent."
Meantime, Kubis estimated he has spent nearly $30,000 building his streatery, and now dismantling half of it.
But he is grateful to the city for having the opportunity at all.
"I mean it's frustrating but at the same time what the city did for us was extremely helpful," Kubis said.
City officials said they will be analyzing the impacts of the new bike lane later this year. The long-term future of the streateries remains unknown.