With the first day of spring set for Saturday, it’s time to talk about outdoor patios.
Council will examine a motion later this month to extend the Patio Program to assist local businesses to mitigate the financial impacts of the pandemic. As part of the program, council is being asked to waive annual and application fees for the 2021 season.
“Last year the city saw a total of 38 temporary patios which was up from 3 in 2019,” indicated Waterfront District BIA Coordinator Kara Pratt. “The COVID-19 mitigation worked, but I also think that the quick pivoting from the city and our businesses was a big help.”
Pratt indicates conversations between the BIA and city officials have been ongoing ahead of the change of weather.
“Hopefully, as soon as the snow is gone, we can have patios out there, or even earlier. Maybe some people want to have a head start on outdoor dining, there is no firm start date. Some businesses might look at parking lots or areas that wouldn’t need cleaning through the city’s spring cleaning initiative.”
Council was set to vote on a motion Monday night but the meeting was post-poned due to ongoing problems with Microsoft Teams.
Officials have added a Committee of the Whole meeting for Monday March 29th.
