To the editor:

I am 100 percent in favor of sidewalk dining on Massachusetts Street. I use it all the time in nice weather. However, when it’s not nice — when it’s too cold, too hot, too early or too late (that is, most of the time) — those permanent fences are useless obstructions. They interfere with strolling, window shopping and street cleaning.

Why does the city require permanent enclosures for outside dining? I never saw such fences in Europe, where waiters put the tables out and take them back indoors at closing. Is it Kansas culture, like barbed wire and alcohol control?

If we have to fence in the drinkers during open hours, fine. Why can’t the enclosures be temporary or portable? Let the shops get their stuff out of the way when not in use.

Charles NovoGradac,

Lawrence