Preston Street restaurants reduce patio season, size to deal with city fees
The Prescott plans to tear down 15-year-old raised sidewalk patio due to $20K in fees
By Matthew Kupfer, CBC News
Posted: Jun 28, 2017 6:37 AM ET Last Updated: Jun 28, 2017 6:37 AM ET
Restaurant owners on Preston Street say the city's new patio fees have forced them to cut back on patio season and replace their patio structures.
The Prescott will be tearing down the permanent patio it's had on the south side of Beech Street for 15 years, so it won't have to pay year-round for its patio when business is slow.
"They must believe we make a tremendous amount of profit on these patios to charge the tremendous amounts of money that they're charging," said Tony Discipio, owner of The Prescott.
A fee change approved by council in March made owners responsible for paying for any encroachment of sidewalks through the winter.
Discipio said The Prescott is facing a bill of nearly $20,000 this year for keeping his permanent patio structure on the sidewalk during winter. In 2016, the restaurant had to pay nearly $12,000.
"The city says we can open in the patio in the wintertime. Let's be honest, does it make economic sense to open the patio in the winter time?" he asked.
He plans to put up a temporary structure in place of the raised patio from June to late August next year, he said.
Businesses pay $8.94 per square metre per month from November to March if they have structures that encroach on sidewalks.
Court Curry, the city's manager of right of way, heritage and urban design services, said the new patio fee structure reflects a two-year review of how the city dealt with patios on city property.
"That was recognizing that you are using public space, there are winter operation issues. You are effectively having a private piece of infrastructure in public space," Curry said.
"We'll be encouraging people to stay open, if they can. If not we'll be encouraging them to remove their structures, but if they chose to keep them for ease, then there will be a charge."
The summer rate is $22.76 per square metre per month, from April through to the end of October, which the city describes as a 22 per cent drop from the previous rate.
Across Beech Street, Craig Pedersen, owner of Il Primo, said the city has made it harder for restaurant owners to expand their businesses and outdoor dining spaces.
The monthly payment plan cancels out the benefit of the rate cut, he said, since owners could decide when the season started instead of having to pay for bad weather to open for a few days in April or October.
"They've given with one hand and they've taken away with the other," Pedersen said.
He's planning on taking his patio down in late September.
Il Primo reduced the size of its patio in 2016 after the city eliminated a reduced rate for raised patios over uneven city land. City council approved the fee change in 2011 to come into effect five years later. The result was that Il Primo's fees nearly doubled from $4,355 to $9,215.
Pedersen took apart the wraparound patio that seated 50 and replaced it with two removable structures that seat 22 people.
"The saddest thing is, by making the patio smaller, the City of Ottawa cost some kid a summer job. I didn't need an extra server on the patio these past couple of summers," Pedersen said. "The ability for me to do bigger business has been hampered."
He said it's a "no-win" situation because the city has also lost revenue due to his renovations. He'll be paying just more than $2,000 in fees this year.
Curry said the city decided to move to a monthly rate after consulting with patio owners, business improvement areas and other groups.
"The daily rate was becoming an administrative burden for us and for them. It was felt this was an appropriate saw-off [compromise] by moving towards a monthly rate," Curry said. "I haven't had many negative comments brought to my attention."
The changes to patio rules and fees in March were a dramatic overhaul so consultation isn't over, he said. There will be a report to council on the new system in February.
"We'll be detailing in that report the impact that the fee changes had and the season's had — not only on our revenues, but certainly I would want to look at the impact that it had on operators' behaviour."
The city will also be working with restaurant owners to implement accessibility rules by the 2018 patio season, Curry said.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...ason-1.4180976
Prev
A little weird considering there's already one just down the road at the Tanger Outlets...
Linear Mode
