Aurora, CO Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

Aurora's Unified Development Ordinance treats outdoor restaurant seating as an accessory use, not a stand-alone right: it's allowed only for a permitted or approved conditional restaurant use, and it can't sit within 100 feet of an R-R or R-1 zone district. Where the seating area meets a public right-of-way, the operator must build and maintain a decorative fence, wall, or similar barrier at least three feet tall that still lets patrons and pedestrians see across it, plus keep a minimum six-foot clear pedestrian path around the area (the Director of Public Works can approve a narrower path). Note the UDO's own definition of 'Outdoor Seating or Dining' expressly excludes true sidewalk cafes sited within the public right-of-way itself, which is a separate right-of-way use matter the UDO text does not spell out with its own standards.