By Chris Neidenberg

The Borough Council is looking to remove what it has considered hassles in the approval process for establishing sidewalk cafes

During a recent meeting at Westmoreland School, the council - urged by Deputy Mayor for Community Affairs Steven Weinstein - unanimously removed certain regulatory requirements for getting Planning Board to approve street-level eateries.

Streetside cafes are popular and quite prevalent in major cities such as New York, and, in this area, are well known in Hoboken.

While it is unlikely that these eateries will grace every block of a smaller municipality such as Fair Lawn, Weinstein and Mayor David L. Ganz asserted that prior regulations proprietors followed in seeking outdoor dining sites were too onerous and costly.

Ganz told the Westmoreland audience of only three people that the changes seek to "reduce" the hearing time an applicant needs in proving such cafes will benefit - and not detract from or congest - a particular location.

He said the changes essentially lower the threshold any applicant will need in meeting an acceptable criteria to put dining tables in an outside setting. Construction Code Official Thomas Van Hook will still have to review and sign off on final approvals.

Weinstein led efforts in creating a new committee designed to help merchants by reducing red tape. He explained that the council determined the existing regulations on outdoor cafes were not conducive to promoting reasonable business development and expansion..

"The prior rules required the allocation of significant dollars, and were causing a great deal of time to be expended, in having outdoor café applications reviewed," said Weinstein, implying such extensive procedures were unnecessary.