ClearForms supports sidewalk dining permits across Southern California

If you look at the "LA Al Fresco" document posted in the window in the photo that accompanies this post, you'll see ClearForms software in action. The City of Los Angeles uses ClearForms to manage applications, approvals, and issuance of "print-at-home" LA Al Fresco sidewalk dining permits, saving business owners and City staff valuable time and giving access to the public right of way for local business.

In May 2020, the City of Los Angeles launched its sidewalk/ outdoor dining program to help support restaurants struggling to stay in business during the COVID-19 pandemic. As we move into 2022, the sidewalk dining programs that use ClearForms software in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood are going strong.

On average, it took LA restaurants 20 minutes to apply for, receive, and print out their sidewalk dining permits. Restaurants are able to sign back in to ClearForms to download updated permit forms as our government customers extended the dates and updated the regulations around outdoor dining.

Governments using the system report that the software dramatically reduced the staff time needed to manage and review permit applications in comparison to the older, legacy systems they had previously used for permitting.

"When COVID-19 forced thousands of businesses to close their doors, we saw a need to meet this moment in a rapid-fire way," L.A.DOT spokesman Colin Sweeney said. "ClearForms allowed us to stand up a new interdepartmental program within a matter of days — not months."

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As we move into 2022, local governments will continue to need nimble, responsive technology like ClearForms to meet the coming challenges of issuing more permits for solar installations, EV charging stations, broadband technology, and more housing starts. Fully cloud-based permitting workflow systems like ClearForms reduce the hassle of permitting for everyone: easier applications and tracking for people who need permits, and smoother data management and approvals for government staff. Governments will need to streamline their permitting processes in order to rapidly deploy the forthcoming infrastructure funding on its way from the federal level. ClearForms is here to help!

These three southern California cities chose ClearForms (formerly CityGrows) for sidewalk dining permits because they needed an easy-to-use tool that could issue permits quickly and give staff the data they needed. ClearForms' open data features and non-technical setup were a huge plus. And now these governments are moving more and more permits onto ClearForms. What permits does your government want to bring on line in 2022?

Book a demonstration of our software or connect with our team via the online chat on this page and we can show you how ClearForms can get a new permitting workflow up and running for you faster and less expensively than you expect. We can't wait to hear from you!