The Irish Harp is one step away from keeping its popular back patio for good.
But first came months of debate, a major shift in thinking at town hall and a $218,000 price tag for three parking spaces.
The Old Town pub came to the town with a request to pay it $217,992 for the removal of three required parking spaces, clearing the way to make its seasonal patio permanent. Committee of the whole voted Tuesday to recommend approving the pub’s ask.
The pub has operated the patio since 2020 under the town’s temporary patio program introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the program ended at the close of 2025, businesses wanting to keep those patios had to seek permanent approvals.
The pub’s original application sought permission to remove six parking spaces, but council deferred a decision last December after staff recommended against it and directed staff to work with the applicant on another solution.
Since then, the patio has been reduced in size, the request has been cut from six parking spaces to three and the required minor variances have been approved. This time, every town department that reviewed the application supported it with no objections.
But the debate quickly shifted from one patio to how the town should handle future requests to waive parking requirements.
Coun. Sandra O’Connor questioned why staff were now supporting a proposal they had previously opposed, saying it appeared the town was taking a different approach to those requests.
“It seems to be a bit of a switch in how we are applying certain models,” she said. “Will we be applying this type of thing to future applications?”
Jordan Frost, director of public works and infrastructure, didn’t shy away from the question.
“I will admit there has been a change in direction since I started the town in January,” he said.
Instead of rejecting applications over parking shortages, Frost said he believes the town should use the cash-in-lieu program the way it was intended: collecting money that can later go into a reserve fund to help pay for future parking improvements.
“I believe it is a way to move businesses forward,” he said.
Frost said the town is already studying parking needs.
“There could be parking structures. There could be parking lots. There could be different use of land elsewhere. There’s a whole plethora of options to address parking,” he said.
“Most of which could involve cost. So cash-in-lieu is a great way to offset those costs.”
Frost added that every application would still be reviewed on its own merits, but staff would apply the same “common-sense approach” going forward.
Speaking on behalf of the owner, planner Dan Romanko said the revised proposal was the result of months of discussions with town staff.
“We came up with kind of a hybrid approach,” he said, noting it would allow the pub to keep both its patio and the three hotel rooms upstairs while still reducing and scaling back the request.
Residents’ written comments to the town also backed the application, saying the patio has operated for five years without causing noticeable parking problems and has become a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.
Heritage, building, fire and emergency and public works staff all reported no objections to the revised proposal.
Coun. Maria Mavridis, whose family operates restaurants in Old Town, thanked the applicant for working through the town’s approval process before asking about the patio’s pop-up tent.
“My understanding is that’s there to get through this season, because we’re so far behind, and you will be investing in more structure, permanent structure in the space. Is that still happening?”
Irish Harp owner Jovie Joki told Mavridis “that’s correct.”
“We are extending till 2027, since it’s late in the year to purchase patio equipment,” Joki said.
Before the vote, Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa reminded council it had asked staff months ago to return with another option for the file.
“We actually made a direction and asked the staff to take away this particular situation and come back with some ideas for a specific direction that this council needed,” he said.
The recommendation still requires final approval from council on July 21.
