Fairfax City is launching a Winter Preparedness Initiative Micro-Grant, this Friday, Oct. 9, as part of the Fairfax City ReConnected Outdoors Program. It’s aimed at supporting the recovery of the City’s restaurant community with a temporary and measured expansion of outdoor dining.
It identifies guidelines to safely comply with outdoor-dining standards during the colder months. The City will partner with the Economic Development Authority to issue micro-grants to directly aid restaurants seeking to continue outdoor dining into the fall and winter.
The money will provide 100 city restaurants with a $3,000 grant for expenditures such as heaters, lighting, furniture, fixtures, fire extinguishers and landscaping. Grants will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, from Oct. 9 through Nov. 30, or as funds remain available.
“We understand that colder weather will require our restaurants to rethink some of their outdoor dining strategies,” said Fairfax City Mayor David Meyer. “We want to ease that burden as much as possible by providing financial assistance to allow them to make needed accommodations to ensure outdoor dining can continue as long as possible.”
“As city restaurants plan for the winter, these initiatives not only support health and safety measures, they add to the guest experience,” explained Danette Nguyen, assistant director of Economic Development, “We’re excited to build upon the Fairfax City ReConnected Outdoors program with this grant and provide an additional lifeline to our restaurant community.”
For more information, go to https://fairfaxcityconnected.com/fairfaxcityreconnected/#winter.