Expanded patios in the downtown area will not be going away.
City council has endorsed an expanded patio program for downtown, which would turn the temporary expanded patio program that has been in place for the last three years as part of COVID-19 response efforts into a regular, annual program going forward.
The costs for 2023 are estimated to be $40,000 and staff say it can be accommodated within the 2023 approved General Contingency Budget.
In 2022 a total of 26 businesses took advantage of the opportunity to operate an outdoor patio on city-owned land.
The City’s Patio Program dates back to 1997, when Council passed a By-law permitting outdoor cafes on sidewalks in the Central Business District.
Here is a list of impacted streets:
George and Water streets
The existing sidewalks on George and Water Streets are planned to remain designated for pedestrian use, as they were in 2022. Requests for expanded patio space on George and Water Streets will be accommodated by converting existing parking spaces to patio areas. This will allow George and Water Street to be maintained with existing lane arrangements for traffic/cycling.
Hunter Street West
The current configuration of the sidewalks on Hunter Street, in the city’s Café District, have already been designed with wider sidewalks to accommodate seasonal patios on a permanent basis. In 2022, a temporary sidewalk space was created within the closed traffic lane along Hunter Street to provide expanded patio space on the sidewalks and increased walkway widths on the closed portions of the road. It is proposed that traffic will be shifted in a similar manner as in 2022, with one-way traffic maintained in the westbound direction between George Street and Aylmer Street.
Hunter Street East
The sidewalks on Hunter Street East are approximately 6.4m (20’) wide. Given the wider pedestrian sidewalks, from Burnham Street to Rogers Street, there is ample space to allow for small outdoor patios on a portion of the sidewalk while still maintaining a 1.5 m unobstructed pedestrian walkway. It is proposed that this portion of the Central Area be included in the annual outdoor patio program to ensure any use of city land is approved through the permit process which will mitigate risk to the city and provide a benefit to local businesses in East City.
Charlotte Street
Charlotte Street, one of the main streets in the City’s Central Area, contains primarily retail uses with some restaurants. In 2022, both lanes of traffic along Charlotte Street remained open with patios being erected in the on-street parking areas. In previous years this section of the street was converted to a one-way street, eastbound. With the ending of Covid restrictions, only 3 of the restaurants located on Charlotte Street expressed interest in participating in the patio program in 2022. City staff did not feel the road closure was justified given the small number of patio permit applicants along Charlotte Street. No physical changes to Charlotte Street are recommended to support an annual patio program at this time. In future years if there is an increase interest from business owners’ staff would reevaluate this recommendation.
