Salina design board backs canopy over Blue Skye Brewery's sidewalk cafe
Salina's Downtown Design Review Board on Thursday approved a design for a canopy over the sidewalk cafe at Blue Skye Brewery, 116 N. Santa Fe Ave., Suite 101, and recommended that the Salina City Commission approve a related change to the cafe's sidewalk license.
The board approved design certificate CC26-018 and recommended approval of license amendment LA26-003, both subject to staff conditions. Both were approved by voice vote. The application was filed by Maggie Gillam.
According to the staff report, the canopy would be bolted to the storefront header and supported by six load-bearing steel columns. Four would replace existing railing posts and two would stand at the building face. Each column would sit on a concrete footing extending 3 feet below the sidewalk and be attached with base plates and anchor bolts, which the applicant said would allow the canopy and columns to be removed later without demolishing the sidewalk. The canopy is a steel frame with angled steel shade fins, and all of its parts would be painted black to match the existing railing.
The cafe's 2018 sidewalk license allowed an area 6 feet by 20 feet 9 inches, or 124.5 square feet. As built, the cafe measures 6 feet by 22 feet 5 5/8 inches, or 134.8 square feet, which is under the 200-square-foot maximum. About 10 feet 6 inches separates the railing from the curb, more than the 6-foot minimum.
Because the columns and footings would be a permanent private structure in the public right-of-way, the canopy also needs a separate license agreement from the city commission, which staff said will go to the commission along with the sidewalk cafe agreement. The board approved storefront changes and a canopy for Blue Skye in 2018 and amended that canopy design in 2019, but that earlier canopy, which was to be supported by tie-back rods to the building, was never built. Staff found the design changes and the larger cafe dimensions while reviewing a 2026 building permit application for the canopy.
