Patio time planned for mid April - will the weather crimp that?

News 100 yellowBy Staff

March 9th, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

 

City Council approved an earlier start date and streamlined approval process for the opening of outdoor patios – you will be able to quaff an ale outdoors on April 15th.

The ice is gone from the Rotary Pond and we are seeing double digit temperatures.

The croci should be breaking through anytime. Right? Will the robins show up soon?

Who knows – we are entering the new normal and almost anything seems possible.

Gibbons - patio open

The kind of patio and the level of safety will be the issue – and that depends on how quickly we reach herd immunity.

The city gave the hospitality community every break possible. They approved expediting the approval process for 2020 temporary patio permit holders to allow their permits to be renewed this year based on their 2020 patio approvals. Application fees for the 2021 temporary patio program are being waived to help businesses recover during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Council previously approved a streamlined zoning processes for patio tents at a virtual meeting of Burlington City Council on Feb. 3, 2021. These changes included:

• removing the zoning requirement for a temporary tent to be three metres from a building or property line,
• zoning restrictions on tents larger than 60 m2 and
• waiving the requirement for a site plan approval and zoning clearance certificate

Burlington City Council has also approved an additional $5,000 to the existing grant tent permit program to reimburse the costs of related fees for an estimated total amount of $10,000 from the Tax Rate Stabilization Reserve Fund. This grant will cover the City building permit fees for outdoor tent structures when an alternative solution and/or building permit is required, until Oct. 31, 2021.

Applications for the 2021 temporary patio program are being accepted until Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Business owners/operators that would like to install a temporary patio during the 2021 patio season are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Applications will still be accepted after this deadline but may take longer to approve.

City staff are committed to reviewing temporary patio program applications and working collaboratively with applicants to help local restaurants and businesses understand how they can safely operate an outdoor patio during the 2021 patio season.

Return to the Front page
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Comments are closed.