Livermore, CA Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

LMC § 5.60.020 limits the outdoor dining permit to dining establishments in the downtown core seeking to serve customers in the public right-of-way, and § 5.60.040(A) makes it unlawful to allow, cause, or engage in outdoor dining there without one. The Community Development Director administers the program, receiving applications and issuing or revoking permits (§ 5.60.030). Applicants submit a dimensional site plan showing the right-of-way, adjacent street trees and furnishings, a furnishings and signage layout, a lighting plan, an operating schedule, a signed maintenance and removal agreement, and a copy of the applicant's City business license (§ 5.60.060).

Section 5.60.080(D) requires outdoor dining uses to maintain a minimum of five feet of clearance between dining furnishings and any curb line or street furniture to preserve pedestrian circulation, and § 5.60.060(I) sets sidewalk-area dining to a minimum of four hours' operation a day. Permits are personal to the applicant and the specific premises, confer no property right, carry no right of renewal, and cannot be sold, leased or assigned (§ 5.60.050). Restaurants serving alcohol outdoors must also hold the required Alcohol Beverage Control Act license and can lose the outdoor dining permit if noise, lighting or access complaints follow (§ 5.60.100).

The Director may modify, suspend or revoke a permit after warning the permittee and allowing 15 days to correct a violation, and three violations of the chapter within one calendar year support revocation outright (§ 5.60.140).