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

Section 9277 covers both Outdoor Seating Areas, portable tables and chairs directly outside a restaurant, and Outdoor Dining Areas, which add permanent improvements like planters, decking or fencing. The purpose clause makes approval mandatory, stating it shall be unlawful for any person to establish an Outdoor Dining Area or Outdoor Seating Area at any site unless approval has been obtained consistent with the section. Outdoor Dining Areas go through the City's Design Review process under Section 9272 and require a valid business license; Outdoor Seating Areas need only meet the operational standards spelled out in subsection (d).

Both categories share the same operating hours: no earlier than 6:00 a.m. and no later than 11:00 p.m. generally, tightening to 7:00 a.m. through 10:00 p.m. wherever the area abuts residentially zoned or used property. Furnishings for an Outdoor Seating Area can go out thirty minutes before opening and must come in within thirty minutes of closing, and no advertising or signage is allowed on any furnishing. An Outdoor Dining Area can carry a menu board of up to six square feet, must be enclosed by a barrier at least three feet tall, and gets a parking exemption if it holds no more than fifteen seats or covers no more than half the restaurant's interior seating area.

Any part of either area sitting on City property, a public sidewalk or the right-of-way needs a separate revocable License Agreement under subsection (f), on top of the Design Review or operational approval, before it can operate there.