Lake Havasu City, AZ Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

Section 14.03.03E.4 treats sidewalk seating as an accessory use tied to an existing, permitted or approved conditional food and beverage service; a standalone sidewalk cafe with no attached restaurant is not authorized. Division c. sets the operating conditions: all support services, kitchen prep, dishwashing, and storage, must stay inside the building, and the business cannot add advertising or signage within the public right-of-way to promote the outdoor tables. The seating footprint is capped at the width of the business's own building frontage, so a restaurant cannot spread tables past its neighbor's storefront, and the layout cannot obstruct pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk or create a health and safety hazard, with a minimum 4-foot clear walking path required at all times.

Before the city will approve the use, the City Engineer must sign off based on public safety considerations, and the operator has to execute an indemnification agreement in the City Attorney's approved form, protecting the city from liability tied to tables and chairs sitting in the right-of-way. Division b. separately bars entertainment stages, live music, DJ areas, dance floors, or speakers from any accessory outdoor dining area unless the operator has obtained a special events permit or a temporary use permit. At the close of each business day, every table, chair, and other appurtenance placed for the outdoor dining use has to be removed entirely from the public right-of-way, and no permanent structure may be built there.