Olympia, WA Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

Outdoor dining in the City of Olympia, Thurston County, Washington runs on Olympia Municipal Code § 12.24.100(B). It makes it unlawful to erect or maintain any chairs or other objects for sitting, tables, or planters, incident to the operation of a business, on any public street, sidewalk or alley adjacent to that business without first obtaining a permit from the city. Section 12.24.090 confirms that the placement of chairs, tables, mailboxes or planters incident to operation of a business is an obstruction that must comply with Article II of Chapter 12.24.

The Director of Community Planning and Development issues the permit. The application is in writing and has to describe and depict accurately the nature and location of the obstruction and the period of time contemplated for maintaining it. The applicant pays an application fee at filing, in the amount the Director specifies.

The clear-width test is the heart of the section. No chair, table or planter can sit within a Pedestrian Walking Lane, a term the section ties to OMC Section 9.16.180.B.2, unless the applicant demonstrates that a walking lane at least six (6) feet wide and clear of vertical obstruction will remain between the area proposed for the furniture and the curb. That six foot lane can include up to two (2) feet of a grate adjacent to a street tree or other planting, so a tree grate counts toward the width but only to that limit.

Subsection (C) treats smaller items differently: garbage cans, mailboxes and other miscellaneous obstructions need no permit under the article, but none can be placed within a Pedestrian Walking Lane unless the restriction is preempted by applicable state or federal law.

The pedestrian interference ordinance in § 9.16.180 backs the permit up. It lists, as affirmative defenses, operating or patronizing a commercial establishment conducted on a sidewalk, street or alley pursuant to a street use permit, and sitting on a chair or bench supplied by the abutting private property owner or lessee pursuant to a temporary street use or other applicable permit or authorization.