Ottawa bars and restaurants to pay patio fees again after pandemic break

It may not look or feel like it yet, but patio season is just around the corner in Ottawa.

Restaurants and bars, an industry hit hard by COVID-19, will have to pay the city to set up patios once again after a break during the pandemic.

The sidewalk in front of Pub Italia on Preston Street will soon once again be transformed into a patio.

“it’s going to be the first full year without restrictions,” says Joe Cotroneo, Pub Italia's owner.

Part of his preparations for this year's patio season is paying the city fees for a permit to use the space. During the pandemic, restaurants and bars were given a break; but, he and other will once again have to pay this summer.

“I’m just a little more annoyed that there wasn’t more public consultation on this," he said.

The city is charging 50 per cent of the regular fee for this season. Cotroneo estimates that will cost him around $2,500; before the pandemic, he says he was paying around $5,000, But he thinks it’s too soon

"It sounds like a great deal to the average person, but, I think with the stakeholders involved, personally I don’t think it is.  I don’t think there should be any patio fees."

He says business is not back to pre-pandemic levels, especially the lunch crowd, which includes office workers who are not back in-person full time.

“When you just don’t have that crowd at lunchtime, I mean, that has to come into the equation,” he says.

The Preston Street BIA also thinks it’s too soon to charge fees.

“Restaurants really got the hell kicked out of them during the pandemic, and it’s early to put that kind of pressure on their revenue stream,” says Steve Moffatt, Preston Street BIA Chair.

Byward Market restaurant owners would also like more time to recover.

“It’s been a nice couple of years not having to pay it, because business has been so difficult; but, going forward if we could just have one more summer to get ahead of the ripple effect that’s really left us a bit behind,” says Lindzy Thompson with The King Eddy.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, Mark Young, the city's program manager of public realm and urban design, said the city is taking a "phased-in approach" to right of way patio and café seating fees after they were waived from 2020 to 2022.

"The Council-approved decision to reinstate fees at a 50 per cent rate for the upcoming summer and winter patio seasons is intended to mitigate growing costs to businesses and continued economic instability, particularly in the downtown core," he said.

Patio operators that wish to have their permit by April 1 are asked to submit their applications by March 17. However, there is no deadline for these applications as the City reviews and issues patio permits year-round.”

Coun. Tim Tierney, the chair of the transportation committee, said those fees go toward enforcement. He said city staff looked at best practices across other municipalities and how they were reintroducing fees.

"I mean, it would be great to say forever, ‘we just waive fees,’ but the reality is there is a cost to the taxpayer, and we have to make sure that it’s a balanced approach.”