Good news for outdoor dining lovers

There's nothing quite like sipping on a coffee with friends on a Belltown patio soaking in a European-like dining experience. In the past it has been quite an expensive and time consuming task for a Seattle restaurant to attain all the necessary permits for a sidewalk dining area. The owner of Belltown's Frontier room says it took him six months of having to get 6 costly permits. "Each ones fairly expensive, each at a different desk, each requires drawing at a different scale," he said.

However, it looks like now the city wants to speed up the process. Under a proposed law, all permits will go through one city department. The cost and the waiting time will be reduced. The Seattle City Council will vote on the sidewalk cafe proposal next week.