As restaurants around Dartmouth start reopening for outdoor dining this week, business owners and town officials are scrambling to hammer out the details.

At a virtual meeting on June 8, the Select Board approved a new application for restaurants to expand or create outdoor seating areas in order to reopen for service under a new order from Governor Charlie Baker.

The first step of Phase 2 of the governor’s reopening plan began on June 8, allowing limited reopening of retail, restaurants, hotels, day camps, and youth sports.

But the governor’s plan leaves the details for ensuring safety and compliance with state guidelines largely up to municipal bodies.

“The governor in all his wisdom has basically handed select boards and city councils — basically, he said ‘This is what you can do, go and figure out how to do it,’” said Select Board member Shawn McDonald.

The new application requires the property owner’s signature as well as that of relevant town officials, including a safety inspector and the board of health, before the permits are granted.

Steve Silverstein, owner of Joe’s Original on State Road — formerly Not Your Average Joe’s — came before the board looking for a permit to allow the restaurant to add outdoor seating in the parking lot.

Silverstein said that he’d spent $4,000 on water-filled jersey barriers used to demarcate the new dining area from parking.

In a somewhat heated exchange, Safety Officer Joe Vieira noted that before he could sign off on the permit, Silverstein would have to fix the barriers to each other or to the pavement to prevent them from moving if struck by a vehicle.

“Is it written down somewhere, the standard that you’re holding me to?” asked Silverstein. “I’ve been here for 25 years,” he added. “And I haven’t had a customer walk through our doors in three months.”

Meanwhile at the same meeting, Cask & Pig manager Mario Ribeiro was granted a license to serve alcohol on an existing patio at the State Road establishment. The restaurant also plans to add more outdoor seating in the near future.

Select Board members also noted that some restaurants have already started serving food in new or expanded outdoor areas. 

“It’s the Wild Wild West out here,” said Select Board chair Stanley Mickelson.

Board member Frank Gracie III asked that the building inspector look at all the establishments “that seem to be just opening willy-nilly” so that “everybody’s doing it by the same rules and by the book.”

“I want everybody to be open and flourish,” he said. “That’s what I want. But I want it done legally and correctly.”