LEWISTON — Concerns about cluttering downtown sidewalks didn’t keep councilors from changing the city’s outdoor seating rules.

Councilors approved changes Tuesday to an existing rule letting restaurants offer outdoor seating. The new changes let restaurants in the downtown Centreville zoning district attach their name and a logo to outdoor furniture and lets them leave their tables and chairs out overnight.

“What’s to stop me from putting out an old Formica kitchen table and some chairs out in front?” Councilor Renee Bernier said.

City code does allow outdoor seating currently, City Administrator Ed Barrett said. 

But the ordinance does not allow sidewalk furniture carrying restaurant names and logos. Eric Agren, owner of Lisbon Street eateries Fuel and Marche, asked the city to change that rule. He currently has furniture, surrounded by a barrier with each restaurant’s name.

“That’s the main reason for this request, and for the ability to leave the furniture out overnight,” Gil Arsenault, director of planning and code enforcement, said.

The old ordinance required durable furniture that could withstand reasonable weather. The new rule requires pieces that are sufficiently heavy to withstand gusts up to 40 mph.

The new rule also gives pedestrians more room. The old rule required restaurants to maintain 5 feet of space around their tables for pedestrians to get by, while the new rule requires them to keep 6 feet of space open.

 “The ordinance is out there that allows this to happen,” he said. “This does a couple of things, making it a little stricter. It’s not a major expansion of what is allowed, it’s just cleaning up the specific request for one business while giving the city a little more control.”

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