Sixteen restaurants are waiting for Parks Canada approval to move forward with the municipality’s one-year sidewalk seating pilot project.
Nearly a dozen restaurant owners and managers appeared in front of the Planning and Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) April 23 to show their support for the project and to answer the committee’s questions.
Mike Cassio of Cassios Restaurant represented the group, saying “it’s nice to see Jasper catching up with the rest of the world.
“[Sidewalk seating] is something that’s a way of life in most cities, and most licensed establishments and non-licensed establishments operate anytime that the sun is out—the patios are ready to go.”
PDAC has one week from the meeting date to provide its recommendation to Supt. Greg Fenton, and he then has 14 business days to announce his decision.
If the project receives approval, the eligible restauranteurs will then apply for event permits from the municipality.
“The proponents still have to meet quite a number of criteria for the permit itself,” explained Mark Fercho, municipal chief administrative officer.
There’s still insurance to deal with, as well as site plans and furniture samples.
The hope is that event permits will be issued in time for June 1, allowing business owners a full summer season to test out the project.
All of the restauranteurs in attendance at the April 23 meeting had an opportunity to speak, most echoing similar sentiments as Cassio, extolling the benefits of sidewalk seating on a warm sunny day.
“People want to be outside, they don’t want to be inside,” said Justin Melnyk of the Jasper Brewing Company. “[This] should give people more dining options in town and free up some more patio space.”
In order to make it this far in the process, each restaurant had to prove there is room for 1.8 metres of unobstructed sidewalk beside its proposed sidewalk seating.
This requirement, which meets national standards, was identified as a likely stumbling block for the project because Jasper’s sidewalks are relatively narrow.
In a letter opposing the project, Tamar Couture suggested that the national standard is inadequate for Jasper’s congested sidewalks.
She said, although she understands the desire to offer outdoor seating areas, with the bike racks, shrub gardens, trees and benches that are already on the sidewalks, there are already enough obstacles to negotiate on a busy day.
“We promote walking, and to have less space on the sidewalk doesn’t add to that pleasure,” she wrote.
In response, Fercho noted that municipal staff have visited each of the eligible restaurants to measure the sidewalks and to determine whether some of those obstacles need to be moved.
“Anywhere there was a concern or a conflict, say within the 1.8 metres there was a garbage can, a tree, a post, whatever, our operations staff dealt with the individual applicant and resolved the issue, modifying the site in order for it to fit.”
Restauranteurs have been requesting sidewalk seating for many years, but until now it hasn’t been considered because the municipality doesn’t have a bylaw to govern commercial use of public land.
In recent years, that has created frustration for businesses and organizations, as they try to navigate their way through numerous levels of bureaucracy in order to host events.
Administration is currently working on a bylaw to deal with such things and anticipates that it will take about a year to complete. As well as sidewalk seating, it will consider busking, street festivals and the farmer’s market—which was recently approved for its second pilot project, allowing it to use the McCready Centre parking lot for its summer markets.
In the meantime, Fercho said pilot projects are a creative way to allow commercial use of public land, while also collecting information on real-life trials that the municipality can review during the creation of its bylaw.
“A pilot project will allow us to find out what works and what doesn’t work, what the problems are, and ensure if we do take that next step towards a more permanent [commercial] use of public space, all of those ducks are in a row.”
Council gave its support for the project in March, opening up the application process for interested restauranteurs. That process required each restaurant to submit measurements, a letter of consent from the restauranteur’s lessee, drawings showing the restaurant’s proposed street furniture and photos of the proposed location.
Those measurements and site plans were then checked by municipal staff to ensure they were accurate.
Nicole Veerman
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