Happy ending. The rooftop terraces of the restaurants in the port of Saint-Laurent-du-Var will finally be accessible to all. People with reduced mobility and parents with strollers will be able to rejoice (and enjoy the view).
Two years ago, restaurants had to close their rooftops to the public. The reason? The Equal Rights Act of 2005, which requires providing the same service upstairs and downstairs, only allowed them to operate 25% of the floor space.
Except that in the post-Covid period, The professionals were suffering from a loss of earnings and did not respect this rule. The sanction was imposed. They could no longer operate their roof terraces. The yacht club therefore filed a request for a modified permit to install elevators and, at the same time, a request for an exemption was made so that the establishments could operate their floor, while waiting to comply. The elevators were delivered in the spring.
Not before September?
As was announced two elevators were installed. One on each side of the west pier, to serve all the establishments. Except that they are still not put into service. “They are awaiting validation by the safety commission”said the president of the yacht club, Bernard Leporati. “I hope it will be quick enough.”
Thomas Berettoni, first deputy delegate for Urban Planning at the Saint-Laurent town hall, considers the outcome more distant: “I don’t think it will be validated before September. It’s in the hands of the prefecture now.” Administrative delays.
100% of the floor soon to be used
The restaurateurs will each have a key to operate the elevator. “It will be up to them to escort their clients who need to use it”explains Bernard Leporati, who states: “The elevators fit very well into the landscape.” Thomas Berettoni also smiles: “It was important that these roof terraces were accessible to everyone.” Even though they probably won’t be able to do so this summer, the restaurateurs, for their part, see a happy outcome. They have been waiting for two years to be able to use 100% of their floor.
