Perth Amboy, NJ Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

Article VII of Chapter 386 governs sidewalk cafes and sidewalk extensions. Section 386-31 sets the license requirement, the projection limit and the location rules. Where the sidewalk is twenty feet or more wide from the building line to the curb, a cafe can project a maximum of ten feet. A corner restaurant can use both its front and side sidewalk. The cafe must sit in front of an operating restaurant that is a permitted conforming use under the zoning ordinances; a location seeking to expand a prior nonconforming or conditional use needs a variance from the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Adjustment. Bars, nightclubs, taverns, pubs and retail food establishments can also qualify. A sidewalk extension, a temporary structure that extends the sidewalk onto existing parking spaces, cannot go in a handicap designated space unless the space can feasibly be moved to an adjacent one.

Section 386-32 sets the build and conduct rules. The cafe is partitioned on three sides by a movable structure between thirty and thirty-six inches high, with one entrance and exit between forty-two and sixty inches wide. Umbrellas need eight feet of clearance. The code bars permanent delineation, platforms and carpet, advertising, music and speakers, smoking, and outdoor food preparation. All furniture comes off the sidewalk at the end of each day, and the licensee sweeps or washes the sidewalk in front of the premises, including eighteen inches into the street. A restaurant holding a liquor license must complete a Place to Place Transfer with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board before serving in the cafe.

Section 386-33 makes the license personal to the applicant: it cannot be sold, leased or transferred, and it is deemed revoked when title or lease to the building or business is sold or transferred. Hours are 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.