Gastonia, NC Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

City Code § 7-11 lets the administrator enter into sidewalk dining encroachment agreements limited to a defined downtown zone: Chester, York, South, Marietta and Oakland Streets from the railroad right-of-way, and Franklin Boulevard and Main Avenue between Chester and Broad Streets. To qualify, customers must be seated while eating or drinking, no permanent fixtures or encroachments may be affixed to the sidewalk or installed in the right-of-way, no cover charge may be collected for sidewalk dining, the sidewalk surface must stay free of litter and food debris, and any signage on dining furnishings is limited to the restaurant's name or logo covering no more than 25 percent of the item's surface.

A restaurant operator applies with the business's and operator's name, address and phone number, proposed hours of sidewalk dining, a scaled site plan showing the dining envelope, curbline and right-of-way, proof of insurance, an indemnity agreement, copies of health and ABC permits, and payment of the encroachment agreement fee on the city's current fee schedule. To be approved, the sidewalk dining must be tied to an operating restaurant sharing its kitchen and restroom facilities, must leave at least four feet of unobstructed paved sidewalk between the dining area and the street-side edge for pedestrian passage, with two feet more around chairs for movement, must use only round tables, and generally cannot extend beyond the restaurant's own sidewalk frontage. Section 7-11 itself was amended by Ordinance 25-835 in 2025, showing the city actively updates this downtown dining rule.