The summer program in the Old Town in Bucharest is just around the corner, but rules have changed for this year. The terraces and bars in Bucharest's Old Town will be allowed to stay open until 04:00 in the morning, starting March 15, but there are some new provisions terrace and bar owners have to comply with, according to a recent ruling by Bucharest mayor Sorin Oprescu.

The Association of Retailers in the Old Town (ACCI) recently asked for the approval of the regulation on public terraces in the Old Town, as its members could not draft their summer business plans without it. Mugur Mihaescu, the vicepresident of ACCI, said the Old Town is a EUR 200 million market, which features 200 retail and restaurant spaces that employ 8,000 people during winter and 10,000 during summer. Each week, 100,000 Romanian and foreign tourists visit the Old Town, according to ACCI.

Music and live shows are only allowed however until 22:00, and organizing weddings and baptisms is not allowed.

Seasonal terraces can be laid on the public sidewalks and/or on pieces of land privately owned between March 15 and November 15, but every morning by 04:00, they need to be closed down to allow for sanitation of the area. Terrace owners will not be allowed to expand the terrace outside the length of the bar or restaurant's facade however.

The City Hall will have to offer approvals for each terrace, and the approvals will be issued based on the order of submission. Applicants will have to follow some rules: the sidewalk needs to be at least 3 meters wide, and a 1.5 meters area should be left for pedestrian circulation; the same applied to pedestrian streets, where a 4 meter area should be kept for emergency situations. Terrace owners are not allowed to use artificial flowers or plastic plant pots, nor carpets made of plastic, folding furniture or plastic chairs or tables. The furniture needs to be the same throughout the terrace, and match the architecture of the building. Umbrellas needs to be only in white – beige combinations, and terrace owners are not allowed to use screens to protect from wind and rain.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: City Compass & Fotogenica)