Background music outdoors should also be allowed in the future. However, that doesn’t suit everyone.
Lighting like this should soon be allowed again on Europaallee in the city of Zurich.
What did the people of Zurich grumble about Europaallee? The development at the main train station is cold and unwelcoming, a concrete desert in which no one wants to stay voluntarily.
Even the emeritus architecture professor Kees Christiaanse, the “inventor” of the Europaallee, criticized the urge to seal everything in the city after its completion in 2020. Christiaanse spoke in the NZZ about an “asphalt disease in Zurich”.
In fact, it took some time until Europaallee became a somewhat accepted part of the city. Today, shops, bars and restaurants line Lagerstrasse; in summer, guests sit outside; a few ginkgo trees sprout and provide subtle shade. Until last spring, passers-by were almost tempted to say: Looks cozy here.
This was when restaurants were still allowed to hang colored lights and decorations outside. Then the city of Zurich stepped in and banned outdoor lighting.
Trouble among restaurateurs
That is, according to the eleven-page “Guide to tabloid gastronomy”not allowed. Floor coverings, awnings, decorations, art objects, fireplaces, fences, music, heaters and so on are also prohibited – in fact almost everything that is not directly needed for the operation of a restaurant. And so numerous bars and pubs had to remove their lighting and decorations again. Other restaurants in the city were also warned to follow the regulations in the guide – much to the annoyance of those affected.
The lack of understanding was also so great because the city gave the catering industry more freedom after the pandemic: it was allowed to expand its boulevard areas, and since this year, boulevard cafés and garden restaurants have been able to serve their guests until two in the morning on weekends during the summer holidays. This concept is called “Mediterranean Nights”.
The city’s bold approach to Europaallee has drawn attention from politicians from left to right. Now, on Wednesday, a broad majority of the city parliament referred a total of five proposals to the city council in order to relax at least some of the very numerous requirements for restaurateurs. These are “outdated, unrealistic and unnecessarily difficult,” said Yasmine Bourgeois (FDP).
In the future, not only outdoor lighting but also background music will be permitted. In addition, restaurants are allowed to extend the seating to parking spaces directly in front of the building. And in order to bring even more life to Europaallee, the public space is to be equipped with additional plants and additional furniture.
In complete harmony, Parliament did not, of course, pass on the proposals. The AL and the Greens in particular complained that politics was being exploited by the “gastronomy lobby”. Urs Riklin (Greens) said: “You could think that Nicolas Kern is sitting among us.” Kern is president of Gastro Stadt Zurich.
Michael Schmid (AL) criticized the increasing “commercialization” of public space and described the demand for background music as an “arrogant disregard for the need for peace and quiet of all those who cannot choose where they live and which hip café they go to.”
Less parking spaces? Commoners oppose it
The SVP, the FDP and the center, in turn, were bothered by the fact that parking spaces should be given up in favor of outdoor seating, as the SP suggested. Karin Weyermann (center) pointed out that before a deletion, residents’ needs for parking spaces should at least be clarified, which the SP rejected.
The city was ready to accept all postulates. Boulevard gastronomy rightly enjoys great sympathy, explained the responsible city councilor Simone Brander (SP). But it is on public land – “and it belongs to everyone”. One interest should not be given higher weight than all others. However, they want to provide an attractive offer, especially in the summer months.
The chances are good that local residents will soon be able to install their outdoor lighting again without the red tape running rampant.
