Fire Pits To Be Considered To Help Downtown Saline Businesses This Winter

Outdoor dining has softened the blow for sit down restaurants around the world, by replacing at least part of their indoor seating during the coronavirus era. But with winter coming, the prospect of downtown's restaurants losing customers when they can ill afford it has led to an idea to keep the block of Ann Arbor Street immediately south of Michigan Avenue closed over winter with a series of smokeless fire pits to keep outdoor dining areas warm enough to eat in. It could also be used by shoppers visiting stores.

While Wednesday evening’s special city council meeting did not do anything other than make it a piece of business for consideration at the regularly scheduled city council meeting next Monday, they did get overwhelmingly supportive feedback from the attendees in the audience. The idea was proposed by Saline Main Street back in late October. They are requesting a special permit to produce a number of 48-pound, fire pits measuring 16 inches high, by 22 inches wide, as braziers for diners to bring their food from downtown’s restaurants outside over the winter months in the Downtown Saline Recovery Zones.

“What we are asking for tonight is to simplify the permitting procedure for a fire pit. We are not asking for fire pits all over the place, willy nilly. People would still have to apply for a permit for a fire pit and we would do that for the fire pits in the recovery zone,” Jill Durnen, President of Saline Main Street, told council.

The block where this is being closed is temporarily closed to traffic until the first of December. Council would need to extend that – perhaps as long as until spring – and grant special permission to place the fire pits where they are currently proposed.

“I’m not sure that keeping the road closed and doing heating is going to be the save all for us. I don’t think anybody can answer that question. I would just hope that you guys would have the flexibility to give us the option to do stuff downtown, for us to be able to survive,” Wally McNeil of Mac’s said.

“We have the opportunity to create something for outdoor dining. I’m not sure if people are going to eat outside when its cold out either,” McNeil added. “But we have the opportunity … to create a gathering space that can be used for sidewalk sales, gathering for Christmas, the opportunities are endless. But if you don’t give us a chance to execute it, it’s not going to work.”

While everyone in general agreed that the priority was to help downtown’s businesses survive, the exact purpose of the outdoor social distance was not clear. Councilor Dillon for example brought up how governments on every level were trying to keep people from congregating indoors, but with this social district she asked “Are we just moving this problem to the outside?”

Both Police Chief Jerrod Hart and Fire Chief Craig Hoeft made memos reviewing the safety of these devices, which are available in the meeting’s packet.

Hart said that the proposed supplier, a Pennsylvania based-company called Breeo, seem to be producing fire pits that are actually mostly smokeless, but not necessarily smokeless.

“I am guessing the amount of smoke may depend on the moisture level of the wood being used,” Chief Hart wrote. “I do not see a spark arrestor offered by Breeo. Solo Stoves do offer the option, which I feel is safer for or community to contain sparks or embers.”

Both Hart and Hoeft said in their memos that this could be done safely, as long as the positions of the fire pits is carefully planned and that the businesses whose customers would be using it are on the same page as the city.

“These agreements should be a for a limited time only and end on a date decided by council,” Chief Hoeft wrote. “I understand and agree we are in a pandemic and we need to be creative to keep our businesses open. When Council decides to end the special considerations for the burn pits, we go back to allowing burn pits only for special activities and festivals conditioned upon the approval of the Fire Chief and the Police Chief.”

But not everyone who attended the meeting on November 4 was on board. Liability was an concern, as well as whether it was a good idea to keep that section of Ann Arbor Street closed. Alternatives like sacrificing some of downtown’s parking for a similar outdoor gathering area, or just shutting the street down on weekends, was also proposed at various points.

While everyone on council and the public supported the city helping local small businesses, a vocal section of businesses owners from the outskirts objected to this program being designed to help downtown businesses and not them. Businesses like the Saline Inn, whose co-owner Frank Diadone addressed Council.

“We want everybody to survive. How can we be part of what’s happening here to help us survive? We’re not literally downtown, but we are part of the community. We’ve been here 25 years. And we’re just asking for a level playing field. We don’t have that right now. We are literally on our own,” Daidone said. “It’s not just about downtown. It’s about the whole community.”

Saline Main Street said they would raise the funds for the heaters and provide storage for them when they’re not in use.

Alternative proposals included only closing the block at the corner of Ann Arbor Street and Michigan Avenue on the weekends, or utilizing a parking lot with a tent space to create the social gathering space intended by temporarily pedestrianizing the block.

The idea of creating a dedicated Covid-19 task force for helping small businesses survive was also brought up in the meeting and was generally positive. Although concerns were made by some that it could lead to a proliferation of unnecessary or competing bureaucracy.