The Portland City Council will consider permanently allowing restaurants to have street and sidewalk seating, an allowance that boomed during the pandemic to allow restaurants to keep serving patrons despite COVID-19 restrictions. The proposed plan would update design and accessibility requirements for outdoor dining spaces, establish a fee schedule for different types of dining setups and provide short-term financial assistance to businesses for permit fees. “There truly are not many bright spots that come out of the pandemic, but I think it’s fair and accurate to say that our outdoor dining program is truly special, and part of what makes post-pandemic Portland truly great,” said Commissioner Mingus Mapps, who oversees the Portland Bureau of Transportation. PBOT, the steward of the city’s outdoor dining program that allowed restaurants to expand into streets and parking strips, has proposed offering subsidies for up to 200 businesses in the first year that the program is made perm...