Wausau, WI Special Events & Permits: Sidewalk Dining & Cafés (2026)

Wausau Municipal Code § 5.65.030(a) makes it unlawful to erect, place, maintain or operate a sidewalk cafe on a public street, sidewalk or other public way without a permit from the Public Health and Safety Committee of the Wausau Common Council. A sidewalk cafe is defined as an outdoor dining expansion of a full-service restaurant, meaning an establishment with a State of Wisconsin restaurant license whose food sales exceed 50 percent of gross receipts (§ 5.65.020). Permits run for a fixed one-year cycle from July 1 through the following June 30 (§ 5.65.030(b)) and can be transferred to a new owner only for the same location, for the remainder of the original term, with a new insurance certificate filed within 30 days (§ 5.65.030(c)).

Applications go to the Inspections Division of the Department of Public Works and must include a description and location of the proposed cafe, a certificate of insurance, a copy of the restaurant license, and, where the zoning district requires it, an approved conditional use permit under § 23.10.32 (§ 5.65.040(a)). Operating standards include a four-foot minimum clear pedestrian path (§ 5.65.060(c)), a ban on molded plastic tables and chairs (§ 5.65.060(k)), no smoking during operating hours (§ 5.65.060(l)), and nightly removal of tables and chairs other than canopies (§ 5.65.060(n)).

Sidewalk cafes cannot operate after 10:00 p.m. or before 6:00 a.m. (§ 5.65.060(m)). Insurance of at least $1,000,000.00 per occurrence naming the City as additional insured is required (§ 5.65.070(a)).