Rooftop dining may return to Naples

Naples wants to add rooftop dining to its landscape.

Restaurants in downtown Naples have been limited to the first floor of any building since 2000, when second- and third-floor dining was banned due to neighbors’ noise complaints.

A local realty investor is looking to change the 20-year-old ordinance. He has asked the city to allow restaurants to operate above the first floor, opening a doorway to potential rooftop dining along 5th Avenue.

Naples residents who frequent that stretch of downtown say they’re all for the idea.

“It removes you from the automobile exhaust, the crowds, and it’s quite a nice setting and a vista of the entire city,” said Bart McMartin.

“I come from New York; we have a lot of rooftop dining, but only in the summertime,” said Josie Miller.

“I think that it only benefits the street, I don’t think it hurts us in any way” said Joseph McCabe of the Inn on 5th. “I think it adds another another dynamic of what 5th Ave. has to bring to the table and the uniqueness and charm and character. I think that is what makes us special and I think that will only help it.”

There is a big box to check before you can ask the city to add a rooftop to your restaurant: The business has to be at least 500 feet away from a residential zone.