When New York City announced new rules to formalize and standardize its outdoor dining program, Megan Rickerson, the owner of Someday Bar in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, wanted to do everything right.

She hired a lawyer, applied on time, paid deposits and fees to various city agencies, attended a public hearing, presented her plans before the local community board, expanded her bar’s insurance policy and dropped a few thousand dollars along the way. After declining an offer from a contractor that quoted her a cost of $86,000 for a roadway dining structure that complied with the new rules, she was able to hire another one for a third of the price.

“I’m out $30,000. That’s before I can even put one table down,” Ms. Rickerson said, estimating that maintaining outdoor dining will cost her $48,000 over four years. “ Think about how many chicken tenders you have to sell to hit $48,000.”

The city had instructed businesses that they would have to reapply by August of last year to replace their ad hoc outdoor dining setups, some of which had lingered since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with uniform, modular structures, or risk fines. Many owners were wary of the new program, worrying that the costs of participating would be too onerous.

Now, nearly two weeks into the program’s first season, city data shows that most of them did not bother — and those who did receive permits described a complicated and expensive ordeal.