City council extends restaurant parklet project
Windsor city council voted unanimously in favour of a motion to extended the city's parklet pilot project, which allows restaurants to expand their service to patios on parking spots on city streets.
The project was introduced in the summer to expand restaurants' ability to serve customers outdoors in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The motion, introduced by Ward 4 Coun. Chris Holt, extends the project to December 31, 2020. The previous deadline was November 1.
"It's helping people that need to be helped, it's helping keep businesses alive," Holt said at the meeting. "If we can extend this without any threat or any risk, I think we should do it."
Restaurants with parklets can apply for the extension as long as they accept all responsibility and risk for any damage they may incur, including damage as a result of snow removal.
Michael Stojcic, owner of Panache Restaurant and Ultra Lounge on Pitt Street, says he has no problem with that. He wants to keep his restaurant's parklet up and running.
"I think that's great news, actually," he said of the extension. "Seeing the benefit we've had having this parklet this year, to extend it a little bit longer would do us a great favour."
Panache's parklet, shared with two other restaurants, now features an industrial-size tent with heaters to keep patrons warm.
"It's very important, seeing that the inside has been limited so much," Stojcic said. "We really rely heavily on even the extra 12 to 18 people we can fit inside of there."
Brian Yeomans, chair of the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association, also welcomed the news.
"As the weather changes it'll get a little quieter out on the patios, but at the same time we want to make sure the businesses have as much time to capitalize on the added space as they can."
He says there are four parklets downtown, two of which are shared by three businesses each.
Before the extension, Yeomans says all the parklets would have had to come down in one day. Now, restaurants have more time to dismantle them slowly over the next few months.
He added that the BIA would be keeping an eye on weather forecasts for snow and factor that into decisions about how long to keep the parklets up.
But in Stojcic's experience, even bad weather hasn't kept customers away from dining outside his restaurant.
"We've seen a couple of times this season people were sticking around even when it was raining," he said.
