Municipality of Chatham-Kent administration is recommending some by-law changes for permanent outdoor patios.
A staff report is set to be before Council at their electronic regular/planning meeting on Monday, January 18, 2021.
“Through the second half of 2020, administration worked with many local restaurant and bar owners to establish temporary outdoor patios on private property and on the municipal right-of-way in order to maintain appropriate social distancing, in accordance with public health measures,” said Ryan Jacques, director of planning, in a staff report.
“Some business owners have noted that they may like to invest in constructing a permanent patio in future on their own property, but they are constrained in doing so because of current regulations in the Zoning By-law. Specifically, in several cases the only option to construct a permanent patio would be to use some existing parking spaces.
Jacques added: “Therefore, in order to provide some flexibility, it is recommended that the Zoning By-law be amended so that up to 15% of the required and/or existing parking spaces for the main use may be used to construct an outdoor patio. The required number of accessible off-street parking spaces must still be provided.”
Jacques said on December 14, 2020, Council directed administration to proceed with a formal public notice in accordance with the Planning Act for amendments to the by-law.
“Restaurant and bars are important businesses in Chatham-Kent,” Jacques said in his report.
“They play a role in job creation through small business start-ups, attraction of new entrepreneurs and expansion of existing businesses. The hospitality sector at-large is negative effected by continued COVID-19 related public health measures. To support the efforts of these businesses through the pandemic and beyond, the Municipality can use land-use planning tools such as zoning by-law amendments to support and revitalize these important businesses throughout Chatham-Kent.”
Read the full report, here.
Monday’s Council meeting starts at 6 p.m. and can be LIVE streamed, here.
The full Council meeting agenda can be seen, here.
