The City of Richmond is considering extending its temporary outdoor patio program until next summer.
Under the expedited program, restaurants and other food and beverage service businesses are allowed to expand outdoor seating into, for example, parking spaces or sidewalks on private or public property to help with social distancing and compliance with other health orders.
The program was approved in May 2020 in response to COVID-19 and was previously extended until Oct. 31, 2021. Council also voted, as part of that extension, to consider applications for items such as tents so the patios could operate in inclement weather.
In a report to council, city staff are now recommending the program be extended until June 1, 2022, and are asking permission to “explore the development of an ongoing program to allow patios on public property.”
According to the report, as of the end of August 2021, 64 temporary outdoor patio permits have been issued, six of which are on public property.
Continuing the temporary outdoor patio program until June would also be in line with the province, which has extended its temporary expanded service area legislation, under the Liquor Control and Licensing Regulation, until June 1, 2022.
The provincial program was extended to give businesses time to pursue permanent patio expansions through existing municipal processes and corresponding changes to their liquor licenses, according to the report.
However, while businesses with temporary patios in Richmond can apply for a permanent expansion through existing processes, there isn’t any mechanism in place for those with temporary patios on public property such as sidewalks.
This means the city would need to look at developing an ongoing outdoor patio program for public property, including establishing a fee for use and seeing if any bylaws need to be amended.
This issue along with extending the patio program until June 1, 2022 is on the agenda for Monday’s general purposes committee meeting.
