ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The owner of Island Time said his additional outdoor seating area will continue to be unavailable while while waiting for the city to replace a damaged barrier.
Owner Devin Tillman said witnesses told him a vehicle side-swiped the outdoor seating area in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
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The additional outdoor seating area was set up by the City of Orlando during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tillman said the additional seating accounts for about a third of his business.
“Somebody could have been severely injured,” Tillman said. “It would have been a traumatic thing, so you know it was an unfortunate that it happened, but it was fortune it happened at 1:30 in the morning and nobody was here because those are very heavy. They are reinforced with metal inside. The sandbags that are there to help keep them weighted down.”
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Since the pandemic, the City of Orlando has approved to continue the additional outdoor seating areas at selected establishments that were previously part of the street.
“My biggest thing is the loss of income from not having the seating,” Tillman said.
Tillman said he will have to pay about $3,000 out of pocket to make repairs from the damage.
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan said the city will pay to replace the city owned barriers.
Tillman said he’s waiting for Orlando police to identify the driver who witnesses said caused the damage.
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