The Planning Commission has unanimously approved the sanctioning of tables, chairs and umbrellas in front of a Spanish cuisine restaurant on the Mellieħa square after doubling the fine for the illegalities.
The Planning Authority's Urban Conservation Area Commission noted that db Group’s restaurant Espiral was in a protected area so it had the facility to double the fine if it deemed fit.
Commission chairman Martin Camilleri proposed that the fine recommended by the case officer - €4,680 - be doubled to €9,360.
The restaurant is located in the pedestrian area right next to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieħa and has been operating since August.
Last month, activists and six residents' groups occupied the restaurant’s tables and chairs, protesting what they said was an "illegal land grab by db's catering establishments".
The company said that when it opened last summer, the restaurant already had tables and chairs clearance from the Lands Department.
The decision was deferred last month because the document with clearance from the Lands Authority was missing from the list available to the public.
When the clearance document was eventually uploaded, objectors said it did not allow for the placing of tables and chairs.
"This letter of consent is being issued for the sole purpose of allowing the submission of a Development Permission Application... and shall in no way be constructed as a final decision by the Lands Authority to award a concession by encroachment," the letter says.
Camilleri noted that while the authority's consent was not a permit per se, it was required to allow the applicant to file the application with the Planning Authority.
He said the placing of tables and chairs was in line with local plan policies since the piazza was within a secondary town centre where tables and chairs were accepted.
Commission members Frank Caruana Catania and Joel Fenech agreed to add a permit condition that unless otherwise indicated on the approved drawings, all existing planters, free-standing signs, service counters and street furniture had to be removed before the permit became executable, and only after the PA’s enforcement directorate visited the site.
The applicant's architect Darren Sciberras urged the commission to reconsider one of the conditions that all tables, chairs and umbrellas had to be removed when the restaurant closes every evening.
He argued that for this to happen, all the furniture would have to be stored inside, taking up almost a third of the inside space. The umbrellas were also very heavy, he said.
He asked whether the commission would allow umbrellas to be closed and tables and chairs stacked on the side of the piazza.
However, Camilleri said this was a standard condition that could not be amended.
Catering furniture taking public space is increasingly becoming a contentious topic.
Residents took to the streets of Valletta last month to protest about restaurant tables and chairs encroaching "pavements for citizens", while stickers saying 'no pavement, no vote' have also appeared in Sliema, Mellieħa, Marsascala and Buġibba over the last few days.
Meanwhile, in Gozo, the archpriest of Victoria slammed a land grab by restaurants outside the square in front of St George's Basilica.
Last year, the Ombudsman called on parliament to demand proper rules and procedures for outdoor catering areas that take up public land, handing the House a set of recommendations for better enforcement.
But a year later, those plans and recommendations have remained shelved, with the Ombudsman last month slamming the authorities for delaying tackling the issue.