HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-06-17, Page 22 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, June 17, 2015
New patio bylaw poised
to be ratified
Marco Vigliotti
Huron Expositor
Restaurants owners looking to
offer an outdoor dining space for
customers will need to successfully
apply for a permit from the munici-
pality and pay an annual fee of
either $75 or $150 if a proposed
licensing bylaw is adopted.
The set of regulations was given
first and second readings at the
June 2 meeting of Huron East
council, who then referred the mat-
ter to the economic development
committee for further review.
The earliest the planned bylaw
would return to council for
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consideration is July 7, says Brad
Knight, the municipality's chief
administrator officer.
If passed it would constitute the
first formal rules governing so-
called sidewalk patios and cafes in
Huron East.
The move to establish a regula-
tory scheme was prompted by a
request from Jeff Miller, who had
sought to set up an outdoor patio
this summer on the east side of the
building in Brussels that hosts his
Jam Jar restaurant.
In an address to council, Miller
said he was told by an unidenti-
fied individual that he could be
charged with trespassing by the
OPP if he continued to clear up
what he described as a "rutted" sec-
tion of sidewalk outside the Turn -
berry Road establishment to allow
for the installation of the patio.
After pressing the issue and dis-
covering that the municipality did
not have a bylaw governing these
sorts of outdoor dining setups, he
raised concerns that Cinnamon
Jim's, another establishment in
Brussels, was using its side yards
for the same purpose - even install-
ing a steel railing and pergola.
"I apologize it came to do this
but everyone had to be held
accountable on this here patio
issue," Miller told council. "I'm not
trying to make troubles with Cin-
namon Jim's, again I am just trying
to get this even playing field."
Under the proposed bylaw,
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which Knight says was modelled
after similar legislation in West
Perth and Orangeville, the size of a
sidewalk cafe or patio is restricted
to the width of their respective
businesses, with the installation of
picnic tables strictly prohibited.
It also limits these dining spaces
from consuming the entirety of the
sidewalk.
"What the draft bylaw speaks to
is to is that to keep a sidewalk walk-
ing
alking space of one to two metres
available," Knight explained.
Music or any sort of entertain-
ment is prohibited on the outdoor
patios or cafes after 9 p.m. under
the prospective bylaw, which also
requires the seating capacity to be
included in the businesses occu-
pancy totals.
This means the seating offered to
customers both outdoors and
inside the building cannot exceed
the maximum occupancy level for
the dining establishment.
The draft bylaw sets forward two
different sorts of rules for patios
and cafes, both of which are
defined in stiff legalese as a "group
of tables and chairs and other
accessories situated and main-
tained upon on a public sidewalk."
A fence, however, must enclose
patios, whereas no such require-
ment exists for sidewalk cafes. The
cost for an annual license for a cafe
is only $75, while for patios it totals
$150.
Alcohol consumption, however,
is permitted on a patio but not on a
cafe.
Knight singled out liability insur-
ance as a major consideration
going forward, saying in a report to
council that is was likely the "most
significant issue" facing the munic-
ipality as any outdoor spaces
would be located either partly or
entirely on municipal property.
Scoreboard
Seaforth
Shuffleboard
June 10
Men's high: Cor Vanden Hoven
3 wins; Lloyd Hoy, Erich
Matzold, Joe Van Dooren,
Jim Davis, Antonio, 2 wins.
Ladies' high: Joyce Matzold,
Audrey Hoff 3 wins; Carol
Hoy and Grace Corbett
2 wins.