Members of the city’s Historic Resources Commission fear a land rush to gobble up the city’s downtown sidewalks is about to begin, and they’re asking city commissioners to at least temporarily put a halt to it.

City commissioners at their meeting Tuesday evening will consider a request from the Historic Resources Commission to impose a moratorium on all new requests to add sidewalk dining areas to downtown.

“The HRC decided the city really ought to take another look at the issue because there is getting to be an awful lot of sidewalk setups in downtown,” said Anne Marvin, chairwoman of the Historic Resources Commission. “We have had people express concern about wanting to continue the pedestrian nature of downtown because it promotes human to human contact.”

Marvin said there was fear that sidewalk travel may become more of a problem as warm weather arrives and downtown restaurants turn to the sidewalks to accommodate smokers because of the city’s ban on indoor smoking. City commissioners also have begun preliminary discussions about allowing bars to have the sidewalk seating areas as well. Currently, 70 percent of a business’ sales must come from food or nonalcoholic drinks to qualify for a sidewalk dining license.

If the city eliminates that food requirement, it is estimated that 20 to 30 new businesses could apply for a sidewalk permit. Currently there are 20 downtown restaurants with sidewalk seating areas, said Frank Reeb, city clerk. Two more restaurants, Teller’s and Free State Brewery, have applied to add seating areas. It will be up to city commissioners to determine whether a moratorium would apply to those two businesses.

Marvin said the Historic Resources Commission wanted to hear public comment on the sidewalk dining issue at its 7 p.m. April 21 meeting at City Hall. The group didn’t set a definite date to end the moratorium, but Marvin said she hoped guidelines could be ready for city commissioners to consider by early May.

City Commissioner Boog Highberger said he was willing to consider imposing a moratorium but did not want the issue to drag on too long because he knows the areas could be an important way for bars and restaurants to cope with the smoking ban.

“I could live with a month,” Highberger said, though he said he would not support stopping projects that have already applied.

But Highberger said he wasn’t sure that the sidewalk areas had done much to change the historic character of downtown.

The city's Historic Resources Commission plans to ask the city for a moratorium on outdoor dining areas downtown. Earlier this month Kansas University students Lisa Allen, Abbey Faris and Holly Currie enjoyed the sunshine at a table outside Signs Of Life, 722 Mass.

“At this point, I think sidewalk dining is a part of downtown,” Highberger said. “I think sidewalk dining has been a great asset to downtown. Maybe that is one reason I’m not so concerned about expanding it.”

Bar and restaurant owners weren’t thrilled to hear about the moratorium request. Brad Ziegler, who is an owner of Louise’s and Eighth Street Tap Room, said he thought businesses that weren’t allowed to have sidewalk seating areas were at a big disadvantage because of the city’s smoking ban.

He said he knew there was some concern that allowing bars to have the seating areas may change the atmosphere of downtown, but he said commissioners ought to give the idea a try.

“I don’t think they can predict whether it will become a problem or not,” Ziegler said. “I think they need to try it, and if it becomes a problem we can address it.”

Bob Schumm, whose Mass Street Deli became the first sidewalk dining area in 1994, said he didn’t think the sidewalk dining issue was creating a concern. But he said the issue may provide an opportunity for city commissioners to have a larger discussion about the makeup of downtown.

“The question about sidewalk dining doesn’t go far enough,” Schumm said. “The question should be: ‘What is the proper balance of food service businesses versus retail?'”

The city has regulations that prohibit new bars from opening downtown unless they have food sales of at least 55 percent. Those were enacted in the early 1990s to ensure the downtown area doesn’t become purely an entertainment district.

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Schumm said now was a good opportunity to discuss whether the regulations should be tightened to restrict the ability of new restaurants to open.

“What I hear from neighbors are not concerns about sidewalk dining, but they’re afraid that the bars and restaurants are overtaking the retail image of downtown,” Schumm said. “We’re slowly losing our critical mass of retail that attracts people from the region.”

City Commissioner David Dunfield said that was a conversation that city officials ought to have as well.

“I know that is an aspect of protecting downtown that people have been kicking around for several years,” Dunfield said. “It might be time that it becomes more than idle talk.”