Jefferson Parish, LA Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

Sec. 2(b) sets the outdoor seating standard for the CPZ-Ped overlay, a district the parish maps onto commercial parkway corridors to create a pedestrian-oriented streetscape. An outdoor seating area, plaza, or courtyard is allowed at ground level between the building and the property line only if it does not interfere with pedestrian access or parking, is not located in a required yard abutting a residential district, and is built with a durable outdoor surface. Where the seating area adjoins the public sidewalk, the business has to maintain a clear line between the right-of-way and the seating area using a masonry wall, fence, plants, or bollards, and those elements can even establish the building's front or corner side line if they meet the district's opening standards under Sec.

4. Size is capped two ways: the area cannot be wider than 50 linear feet or 50 percent of the development site's width, whichever is smaller, and it cannot sit more than 25 feet back from the site's required build-to-line or setback. The outdoor seating area only counts as an accessory use to the principal business, meaning a standalone outdoor dining operation without an associated restaurant or retail use inside the building does not qualify under this section. This standard supplements, not replaces, the building's underlying zoning district rules, since Sec. 2(a) makes CPZ-Ped standards control whenever the two conflict.