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Pub patios on city boulevards in Victoria can stay until Nov. 30

Council voted unanimously to allow patios established under the Business Recovery from Pandemic Bylaw to stay over the busy summer season
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Outdoor patio on a city boulevard at Fifth Street Bar and Grill. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST

Two neighbourhood pub patios have received a stay of execution, after council voted unanimously to extend until Nov. 30 patios established under the Business Recovery from Pandemic Bylaw.

The move means the Fifth Street Bar and Grill in the Quadra-Hillside neighbourhood and Beagle Pub in Cook Street Village can keep their patios on city boulevards.

The two pubs had been directed to close their patios by May 31 because of a new bylaw adopted in March that bans patios on softscape boulevards.

Mayor Marianne Alto said Thursday that extending the deadline will allow the pubs to enjoy what is expected to be a busy summer and provide city staff time to look at potential changes to the patio bylaws.

“It is timely to consider how the Patio Regulation Bylaw can further apply the lessons learned from, and experiences of, the pandemic to enable continuing and new innovative commercial use of public space,” Alto wrote in her motion.

Coun. Chris Coleman said it’s the right response from a city that has managed to create a patio culture out of the pandemic.

“The reality is city staff moved incredibly quickly three years ago to allow economic vibrancy to flourish while COVID was going on, and we created a patio culture,” he said. “This just extends the process to the end of November. That makes sense and allows us to carry on the discussion to accommodate a vibrant patio culture that we’ve actually helped create.”

City staff will also examine the implications of expanding allowable patios on public spaces and closed streets and adding more flexibility to its patio policy.

That policy was on the table briefly Thursday. Council was going to vote on rescinding the new patio bylaw, which was adopted in March of this year, but that matter has been put off for two weeks.

The bylaw was a return to pre-pandemic rules, which had been suspended when the city introduced the Business Recovery from Pandemic Bylaw and related Build Back Victoria program, which permitted patios so businesses could meet pandemic-related social distancing requirements.

That program — extended twice before expiring at the end of March — was designed to help with economic recovery as the pandemic waned and restrictions were relaxed.

The program was popular, with at least 36 patios ­established around the city ­during the pandemic, most of them along sidewalks or in parking spaces in front of businesses. Two were set up on boulevards.

With business getting back to normal, the city adopted the Patio Regulation Bylaw in March, with an eye to maintaining some of the vibrant patios and street life realized during the pandemic while protecting the integrity of public space and city assets.

The Patio Regulation Bylaw allows eligible businesses to apply for either simple temporary patios to be set up daily, or complex patios with semi-permanent structures. There are options for seasonal and annual licences.

The complex patios can be operated on sidewalks, in select plazas and parks, or on roadways, while simple patios are limited to sidewalks, plazas and select parks.

The bylaw also includes an inspection process to ensure safety and accessibility, but does not allow patios on softscape boulevards. According to city staff, the concern is that when patios are built on landscaping, they destroy it.

Staff told council Thursday that 19 businesses are in various stages of applying for patios under the new patio bylaw.

aduffy@timescolonist.com

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