Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

The measure must be approved by the City Council by December 31st

Milan, 9 December 2021 – The process of updating the Regulation on temporary and light occupations of public land begins, i.e. the new provisions regarding the arrangement of tables, chairs, flower boxes, umbrellas, platforms, gazebos, dehors and other elements of urban furniture functional to the supply of food and drinks.

The municipal council, which met this afternoon, approved the proposed council resolution regarding the harmonization of the legislation currently in force which regulates the occupation of permanent and temporary public land. The measure will continue the approval process in the competent commissions and in the city council where it must be approved by December 31st.

The harmonization of the legislation arises from the need to: stabilize and normalize the authorization process developed during the pandemic emergency; coordinate the regulations introduced for occupations of public land with light temporary structures with those envisaged for permanent occupations and for the installation of dehors; simplify and rationalize the provisions, through the integration of IT systems that facilitate the organization and management of the related procedural flows.

"The proposed resolution approved today – said the councilor for Economic Development and Labor Policies, Alessia Cappello – was born from the joint work of several departments, from listening to businesses and citizens to renew and bring order to a complex discipline , which affects various areas of the city's life and which in the last year, due to the pandemic, has required emergency interventions. Now the word passes to the City Council for discussion of the contents and approval".

Among the fundamental lines for the revision and integration of the Regulation are:

• differentiation between occupations of public land with readily removable light structures, with removable semi-rigid structures and with dehors;
• simplification of the authorization procedure;
• application of the new regulations with exclusive regard to food and drink administration establishments;
• as per national law and in the absence of any exceptions, reinstatement of the prior positive opinion from the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of the Metropolitan City of Milan for some central areas of the city;
• occupations of public land which are on the same level as the roadway to replace parking can only be seasonal, in the period between 15 April and 15 October;
• occupations on green areas can only be seasonal and granted between 1 March and 31 October;
• provision of specific technical, functional and aesthetic provisions and alignment with regional legislation regarding noise pollution requirements;
• progressive adaptation to the new regulations during 2022.

The text approved by the Council also provides that for the 2022 year, if the free payment is not extended - currently provided ex-lege by Government provision - a specific tariff concession will be applied with a 20% reduction on the amounts of the single property fee.

Finally, the Council established that the Administration will proceed to identify control initiatives in the localities affected by the temporary occupations, containing the effects linked to the so-called "bad nightlife", for example by providing for the presence of stewards, security companies and interventions by the local police in coherence with any protocols signed with the Prefecture.