Committee votes in favour of changing Victoria's patio bylaw

Victoria City Council's Committee of the Whole voted in favour of updating the city's patio bylaw Thursday.

The proposed changes would update a four-decade-old bylaw that took a backseat when the city introduced the temporary Build Back Victoria Program.

That program was described as “bureaucracy-lite” in a staff report and allowed businesses to increase capacity while maintaining physical distancing requirements to support economic recovery efforts.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, 98 business in the capital built patios. The program was considered a success by businesses and patrons alike.

“One of the silver linings of this very tough last couple of years is the emergence of patio culture,” said Jeff Bray, chief executive officer for the Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA).

“It adds vibrancy and liveliness to those streets.”

The new bylaw will ensure new patios enhance streetscapes and public spaces, that they are safe and accessible and that the application approval process is fair, flexible and timely.

The DVBA said it welcomes the changes, but stressed flexibility is key.

“We’re very supportive of what staff came forward with,” said Bray. “We just want to make sure we continue to have a flexible permitting program so that the patios work for restaurants as well as for the public, and that means we have to take into consideration that we can be windy, we can be wet, so the patio designs have to allow businesses to have some protection for patrons.”

A draft of the new bylaw is expected to be presented to council in the spring.