Sidewalk patios to be allowed year-round under proposed Ottawa bylaw

It may not feel like patio season yet, but a proposed city bylaw could mean that — at this time next year — you might just be quaffing a beer on an Ottawa sidewalk under the bright March sun.

City councillors are expected to consider a new bylaw today, one that would govern sidewalk patios starting April 1, 2017, and allow them to use audio speakers, pay cheaper monthly rates and even stay open through the winter.

Now that Ontario allows servers to carry alcohol across a public sidewalk, the bylaw would apply to patios using public rights of way in front of businesses and at the curb.

It would also make permanent the Streetside Spot pilot project, which saw seven private patios and four small public parks pop up in on-street parking spaces during the summer of 2016.

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In their report, city staff note patios have become more and more popular and are a good way to animate the city's shopping and dining thoroughfares.

Staff said they received 87 applications for sidewalk patios in 2016, up from 68 a decade before.

New rates, new seasons

Up until now, Ottawa patio season, at least according to the city's encroachment bylaw, has officially ended on Sept. 30.

But with sidewalk patios now getting their own bylaw, staff recommend they be allowed to continue through the winter months to give business owners more flexibility if the weather is nice.

The bylaw would see businesses pay monthly permits, instead of daily fees, to keep patios on public space. Summer rates would be set at $22.76 per square metre per month, from April through the end of October, which staff say should work out to a 22 per cent drop in fees.

Businesses would pay $8.94 per square metre per month from November through March, and could no longer get away with encroaching on sidewalks after the summer season without paying fees.

Pedestrians would get 2 metres

During consultations over the last year, staff said the two issues that drew the most response concerned how wide a space to leave for pedestrians, and whether to allow audio speakers on patios.

They've settled on setting a standard two-metre wide berth for pedestrians, although 46 existing sidewalk patios that don't leave that much space will be grandfathered for 2017.

As for speakers, they will be allowed and subject to the city's noise bylaw.

The Lowertown Community Association took part in the consultations, and has written a letter to city councillors, concerned that staff recommendations have changed greatly since a draft set was released last November.

The association is wondering how the idea of permitting sidewalk patios year-round made its way into the new bylaw, when those issues weren't raised earlier.

It's also concerned about snow removal on crowded streets in the ByWard Market.

The city's transportation committee is expected to consider the proposed bylaw and hear from the public when it meets today at city hall.