Patios see lower fees, but tighter space limit
By Megan Harrison
Some Centretown restaurants are considering scrapping their patios after city council passed new rules that cut some fees but imposed a mandatory two metres of sidewalk clearance that may prove impossible for some businesses to accommodate alongside their outdoor seating areas.
A 22-per-cent cut in fees and new rules allowing patios to stay open year-round were two amendments passed by council on March 8 and embraced by businesses. For the 87 Ottawa business owners who have had to pay the highest rates in Canada for patios that encroach on to sidewalks, the fee cuts were a welcome change.
But more than half of those patios don’t meet the stringent new requirement of a two-metre-wide, unobstructed “clearaway” from patio to curb, according to Linda Carkner, program manager for the city’s right-of-way services.
Owners of some of these 46 patios have just over a year to determine if they could financially sustain a patio restructuring to meet the two-metre rule.
Some businesses have paid more than $12,000, including fees, to build and maintain aesthetically pleasing and code-conforming patio structures. Increasing the necessary sidewalk clearance to two metres might require them to shave off a substantial portion of their existing space, according to Preston Street BIA director Lori Mellor.
She said that’s why some restaurant owners are beginning to express the view that “it’s not worth it.”
“If you lose that much space, you’ll lose a whole row of tables.They have to think about whether this is actually financially viable.”
Pub Italia owner Joe Cotroneo said he’s had to make this consideration himself.
“I’d lose a whole row of tables and I don’t know if that patio would be feasible anymore,” he said.
If his patio isn’t permanently grandfathered — given an exemption from the clearway rule — he would have to scale back his patio by half to ensure the two-metre clearance. That’s in part because the city, after approving his patio almost 15 years ago, installed trees and street furniture on the adjacent sidewalk as part of a beautification project.
“The problem is that it is very difficult when they’re planning to beautify a street to have a patio and provide two metres,” he said, “It’s almost impossible to accommodate.”
Provincial rules for the minimum sidewalk stipulate only a 1.5-metre clearway.
“The city is going beyond that and making it two metres and making a point that they’re trying to comply with (Ontario’s accessibility laws), but they’re not. They’re trying to go over and above,” Mellor said.
Coun. Keith Egli, chair of the city’s transportation committee, said the provincial regulation is a bare minimum, and that the city had an obligation to respond to residents’ concerns that the current requirement isn’t enough to make them feel safe or comfortable.
But he said he also appreciates that there will be issues that some patio-owners will face in getting their patios to meet the regulation.
New patios would be required to adhere to the required two metres of unencumbered sidewalk space for pedestrians and ensure any raised platform is accessible for wheelchairs via a ramp. Existing patios seeking a renewal won’t have to comply with the new rules until March 2018.
Egli said he hopes that these issues can be addressed before the start of the 2018 patio season.
“We’ve got a year,” he said. “We’re prepared to roll up our sleeves to resolve these issues.”