The intersection of 2nd Avenue East and 9th Street East in downtown. File photo
A proposal to create a grant program for restaurants in Owen Sound to help them with the costs of establishing temporary outdoor patio spaces this summer won’t be happening.
Coun. John Tamming withdrew his motion at Monday night’s meeting to instruct city staff to allocate $30,000 this summer to match funds put up by temporary and sidewalk patio applicants on a first-come, first-serve basis to a maximum of $5,000 each.
The motion was withdrawn after council was advised by city manager Tim Simmonds staff seeked outside advice from the city’s solicitor about the grant proposal and it would be considered “bonusing” if established outside of the Community Improvement Plan.
Section 106 of the Municipal Act forbids a municipality from directly or indirectly granting bonuses to businesses, with certain exceptions.
“I would prefer not to ask council to do something that’s illegal … and endeavour to work with community services with respect to an amendment to CIP,” Tamming said.
Tamming noted many restaurant owners and others have contacted him in support of the idea.
Coun. Travis Dodd asked staff: would something like a temporary outdoor patio would fit within the current Community Improvement Plan?
The city’s Director of Community Services Pam Coulter noted one program the city has not yet activated — the landscaping and property improvement grant — could apply to permanent patios but not temporary ones.
“Under that program, the city may also fund the installation of improvements to permanent rooftop and street-level patios in the city’s downtown and harbour areas,” Coulter told councillors. “For clarity, an outdoor sitting area located on municipal property is not eligible. A temporary patio or temporary moveable components … are not eligible to receive grant funding.”
While the city is not moving ahead with any grant support for temporary outdoor patios, it did recently waive all fees associated with issuing a sidewalk patio permit to restaurants or bars in 2021.
Extended outdoor patios became popular across Ontario last summer as Covid restrictions left eateries unable to operate at full capacity, especially for indoor dining.