Vancouver’s restaurant patios to expand onto sidewalks, curbside street spaces

Vancouver’s restaurants plan to have tables and chairs out on sidewalks and curbside street spaces by next week after city council almost instantly approved a fast-tracked, temporary permitting system Wednesday evening.

The move is intended to help restaurants, now allowed to open with restrictions as part of British Columbia’s pandemic plan, survive with less indoor seating.

Many said Thursday they are gearing up, even though they say the new system won’t replace their lost seats inside or completely eliminate logistics problems.

“We’ve put in the bid for it already,” said Caroline Levy, the manager at St. Augustine’s, a popular tavern on Commercial Drive that serves microbrews and pub food. “We’ll put picnic tables in the parking spaces in front like we do on car-free days.”

But the number of seats won’t compensate for the drastically reduced indoor seats the tavern is now allowed – 45 out of its 182, even less than the 50 per cent nominally allowed by the provincial health officer because of spacing complications.

On Fourth Avenue, the Paris-style Au Comptoir bistro will also try to get a few more seats outside, owner Maxime Bettili says.

But there’s not much room on the sidewalk alongside his restaurant. Using street space isn’t feasible for him because there’s a bus stop directly in front.

Still, many are impressed the city managed to make the change so quickly, with formal applications to open June 1, two-day processing promised and the temporary patios allowed to continue through Oct. 31.

“We were surprised the mayor called a special meeting for it,” said Charles Gauthier, executive director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, whose team has been working hard on figuring out where new patio-type spaces can be set up throughout the area.

“And I was really pleased they weren’t going to require any construction of a deck – that would have been a deal-breaker.”

The special permitting system, outlined by licensing manager Jessie Adcock and deputy engineering manager Margaret Wittgens, will allow tables and chairs on sidewalks or city street-parking spots in front or on side streets. They can’t run electrical connections or utilities. They’ll need temporary railings around them if they are serving alcohol because of provincial regulations.

All fees, which can range from $500 to $3,000 a year for an annual patio permit on top of the application fee, are being waived.

On Granville Street, many of the current parking spots that are carved out of sidewalk space will be converted, said Mr. Gauthier, and the association’s staff are looking for good locations on other streets for parklet-type operations – small seating areas set up in what are normally metered parking spots.

Mr. Gauthier is still hoping the Vancouver Art Gallery’s main plaza can be used as a space for tables and chairs, where people can bring food and even alcoholic drinks to consume outside.

But that will take two more moves still – one, for the city to approve the use of public spaces for table-and-chair occupation and, second, for the city to permit alcohol consumption in those spaces.

Some other municipalities in the region have also moved to allow temporary patios, notably in North Vancouver and Port Coquitlam. In the latter suburb, the city is even offering to help build patio spaces.

Vancouver’s expedited permitting was seen as a test of whether the city’s bureaucracy, often viewed as prohibitively cumbersome, could respond quickly.

The councillor who was pushing the hardest for the temporary patio spaces says they met the test.

“I’m incredibly grateful to staff for moving so quickly,” said the NPA’s Sarah Kirby-Yung said. “I think this is what the industry is looking for. It’s showing we can rally.”

Staff are still working on permitting processes for patios on private property – such as plazas that are attached to neighbouring office buildings – and breweries, as well as city-owned public spaces.

We have a weekly Western Canada newsletter written by our B.C. and Alberta bureau chiefs, providing a comprehensive package of the news you need to know about the region and its place in the issues facing Canada. Sign up today.