Greensboro council in uproar over arrest at restaurant

Greensboro city council members raised concerns tonight that police enforcement of the city's sidewalk cafe ordinance downtown may be overzealous and arbitrary.

District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny said he was sitting outside under a canopy at Carmine's, a restaurant on South Elm Street, on July 31 when he witnessed an employee get arrested during a sudden downpour because the restaurant failed to remove tables and chairs from the sidewalk. Matheny said the arrest took place at 10:04 p.m., four minutes after the time city's sidewalk cafe ordinance requires cafes to stop operating.

Matheny said he requested a record of recent citations against businesses for violations of the ordinance to see whether it is being enforced consistently, including against businesses that serve customers before 11 a.m., when the ordinance allows them to begin operating sidewalk cafes.

"I was there I was sitting outside under the canopy," Matheny said. "What I have asked was for a backup of the violations that occurred on Elm Street. I do agree that this establishment has been treated unfairly. I was there and I witnessed it. There’s a couple of other establishments that I frequent in the morning and they’re technically in violation but they’re treated differently." He added: "What I saw last night was excessive.

District 4 Councilman Mike Barber suggested placing a moratorium on enforcement of the ordinance, but the proposal failed to garner enough support to pass.

"This issue is a classic example of how many times we need to do something rapidly, and there are lots of committee meetings," he said. "This is a case where we have a clear reason.... We’ve had a manager arrested. We’ve got police officers with an unclear mandate. We’ve got frustrated people. We’ve got comments from council that could be used by the DA to have charges dismissed."