Downtown Lawrence sidewalks were designed for shoppers and pedestrians, not dining. In recent years, the city has worked to accommodate a limited number of sidewalk dining areas, but it’s easy to see how such areas could get out of hand.

An ordinance scheduled to be considered tonight by Lawrence city commissioners could allow just that. In fact, commission action could deal a double whammy to downtown by opening it to establishments that do less of their business in food and potentially encouraging bar crowds to spill onto the sidewalk.

Currently, restaurants with outdoor seating areas are required to do at least 70 percent of their business in food. The new ordinance would lower that amount to 55 percent for existing and new restaurants. In addition, it would allow drinking establishments that were grandfathered in when the food requirement was added downtown to have outdoor seating areas without doing any of their business in food.

There are, of course, a number of restrictions. The move to allow more outdoor seating came, at least in part, in response to the city’s ban on smoking in most public buildings. Some bars have options to provide outdoor seating in areas behind or beside their businesses. Only bars that don’t have those options will be considered for sidewalk seating, according to the ordinance. It seems it would be difficult to draw that line, but city officials apparently think it is doable.

Other restrictions would seem even more difficult to enforce. Only patrons who are seated at tables would be allowed to consume alcohol in the sidewalk areas, and an employee of the establishment must be assigned to keep people from taking alcohol off the premises. Both factors seem almost impossible to control, especially on a busy night.

There’s also the issue of how sidewalk dining areas impact pedestrian traffic downtown. The city requires businesses to leave five feet of sidewalk between their fenced dining area and the curb. That’s not much space, especially if a wheelchair or stroller is involved. And the fences that define the dining areas stay up year-round, impeding pedestrian traffic at times when there is little or no demand to dine outside.

Outdoor seating areas can be nice, but the benefits of the tiny areas that can be accommodated on downtown sidewalks may not outweigh the negative impacts to pedestrians and safety. Adding more sidewalk seating areas, especially for businesses whose primary business is serving alcohol, isn’t the right move.