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.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.