The recent approval of the Salva-Casa Decree has also introduced important innovations on the long-standing issue of regulating outdoor spaces.
Although the decree explicitly expresses itself only on the removable structures adjacent to schools, hospitals and care centers, created temporarily during the pandemic to promote social distancing between citizens, thanks to an amendment proposed by some political forces, it was requested to make it applicable also to the outdoor areas that arose, for similar reasons, outside bars and restaurants.
In fact, even though the emergency was over, these structures were not only not removed, as required by ministerial directives, but remained in a legislative limbo.
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Save-Home Decree: the legislation on dehors
Outdoor spaces have proliferated during the pandemic as structures intended to temporarily host citizens, in compliance with social distancing, on the basis of the Ristori Decree (art. 9 of Legislative Decree 137/2020, converted by Law 176/2020), in force until 31 December 2021, and subsequently protected by a series of provisions, such as the 2022 Budget Law, the Milleproroghe 2022, the Competition Decree, etc.
With the approval of the decree-law 69/2024, said Save-Homeconverted into law with a specific provision published in the Official Journal and entered into force on 07/28/2024, it was decided to regularize them through a compromise: on the one hand, in fact, it is permitted to preserve these structures, always in a non-definitive manner and provided that they are brought up to standard according to precise procedures, on the other hand, the Municipalities are recognized the right to request their removal from public land at any time, through a motivated provision.
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The Competition Decree: the extension until 2025 for outdoor dining
Recently, the Council of Ministers approved the new annual bill for the market and competition. The bill provides for an extension of authorizations and concessions for outdoor areas until December 31, 2025.
This extension is in force until the entry into force of a new legislative decree, which the Government must adopt within 12 months.
The new decree will focus on the reorganization of the emergency measures adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic, a crucial aspect to support the restaurant sector that has suffered significant impacts during the health crisis.
In this context, the extension represents an important breath of fresh air for business owners who rely on outdoor spaces to attract customers and generate revenue.
One of the main objectives of the bill is to simplify the authorization regime for the installation of removable elements or structures, such as dehors. This should facilitate the opening and management of catering activities, reducing bureaucracy and speeding up authorization processes.
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The new rules on outdoor seating: advantages and disadvantages
In terms of regulating outdoor spaces, the Salva-Casa Decree, with subsequent amendments, presents some advantages and some critical issues.
The advantageous aspects of this measure include:
- the possibility for bar and restaurant owners to be able to regulate outdoor seating from a legal point of view, without having to demolish them and nullify the economic investment made for their construction;
- the possibility for customers to continue to benefit from larger spaces in which to consume their orders;
- the possibility of preserving and creating new regulated spaces for educational, health and assistance purposes;
- the recognition of the power of the Municipalities to decide on the matter, according to the needs of the territory and in compliance with urban decorum.
The critical aspects, however, concern:
- the ongoing discontent of pedestrians and motorists, forced to give up the spaces occupied by outdoor seating, such as sidewalks and parking areas;
- the possibility that unequal treatment may arise at a national level, given that the final say on the permanence of such structures belongs to the individual mayors;
- the possibility that unfair and untransparent decisions will be taken by municipalities;
- the absence of clear and definitive legislation regulating outdoor seating at a national level.
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Procedures for regularising outdoor seating
The amendment requested to the Salva-Casa Decree therefore requests that bar and restaurant managers also be allowed to keep the outdoor areas created during the lockdown and still actively used, provided that they are compliant from an urban planning, building and landscape point of view.
To regularize these structures, however, it is mandatory to present a certified communication of commencement of works, indicating the date of installation, which will certainly fall within the time of the national health emergency and which must be supported by the documentation specified in Article 9-bis of the Presidential Decree 380/2001.
In the event that it is not possible to trace the date of construction of an outdoor area, the technician in charge of making the structure compliant must certify it under his own responsibility, through a signed declaration.
Furthermore, again through the presentation of specific documentation, it will be necessary to demonstrate that this structure was created to respond to the needs of traders to continue working during the lockdown, and, an aspect that is decidedly more complicated to prove, the reason why these needs persist to this day.
