City committee endorses expansion of London, Ont. seasonal patio limits

City councillors sitting on the Planning and Environment Committee (PEC) have unanimously endorsed a plan to expand how long London, Ont., restaurants can keep a seasonal patio throughout a calendar year.

Seasonal patios refer to temporary outdoor patios that often extend into parking lots or sidewalks. Permanent patios are treated differently and allowed all year round.

Under the current rules, seasonal patios are only allowed between March 14 and Nov. 16, however Monday’s PEC vote looks to stretch that limit to any eight months in a calendar year.

Current capacity limits allow for a seasonal patios to have no more than 50 per cent of the associated restaurant’s capacity or no more than 50 people, depending on which number is greater.

PEC members also voted to endorse changing that limit to a ratio of 1.11 square metres per person.

Both moves bring the municipal rules in line with provincial guidelines for seasonal patios through the Liquor Licence and Control Act.

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The push for looser patio limits may be a familiar story for those who keep a close eye on municipal politics in London.

Ward 13 Coun. John Fyfe-Millar and Ward 2 Coun. Shawn Lewis brought forward a motion on the matter to the PEC back in March before Deputy Mayor Josh Morgan brought forward a similar motion to the Community and Protective Services Committee in late May.

“It actually impacts both committees, so the two got melded into one motion and here we are finally,” Lewis told Global News.

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Lewis was happy with Monday’s vote and says London should be providing restaurants with the flexibility included in the proposed new patio rules.

“There’s no better example than what’s coming up in our calendar in the new year, which is the Tim Hortons Brier is coming back to London,” Lewis said.

“That’s exactly the reason, as a member of Tourism London, I wanted to see this come forward because we need to be able to support those events, large or small, in our community that happen all year round.”

The committee endorsement was also welcomed by Tom Sada, who owns several Chuck’s Roadhouse restaurants in London, including the downtown location on Richmond Row which features a popular seasonal patio that juts onto the eatery’s parking lot.

“Honestly, if I had no patio, I would not be here right now,” Sada said, adding that the addition to his restaurants were especially important during COVID-19 lockdowns.

“The success was amazing. I kept all my staff and everybody was happy.”

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In another update from PEC’s Monday meeting, committee members also voted to have city staff review capacity limits for permanent patios, which have the same 50 per cent of restaurant or 50 people capacity rule as seasonal patios.

“The 50 per cent of the indoor capacity rule actually pre-dates the tenure of anyone on staff today, so we couldn’t find out how far back that has been in place, it has just been a standard that’s been in place for London for quite a while,” Lewis said.

As for the updated seasonal patio rules, city council gets the final say when they meet on Oct. 17, but Lewis is optimistic the proposal will get unanimous approval.

“I’ve heard lots of support from my fellow colleagues for this and once it’s in place, that bylaw takes effect pretty much right away, so that November now is no longer looming for seasonal patios,” Lewis added.

“Restaurants will be able to choose to stay open with their seasonal patios right through to the end of the year, if that’s what they choose to do.”

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