As the town bids farewell to the temporary patio program it welcomed five years ago to help restaurants out during the pandemic, two businesses in the heritage district are looking to set up patios they can keep for good: the Olde Angel Inn and the Irish Harp.
The owners of the Olde Angel Inn and neighbouring properties want to make the inn’s patio and two existing cottage rentals permanent, an application that came before the town in a public meeting on Tuesday.
The proposal covers three buildings at 224 and 226 Regent St. and 42 Market St. It would also retain the two parking spaces tied to the cottage rentals.
“This is simply to permit what’s already existing,” said Lichheng Lim, a senior planner with NPG Planning Solutions representing applicant Keith Turner, during a November open house.
Lim said making the patio permanent would not require additional parking. Five studies must still be completed before the patio can become permanent, including a site plan and floor plan.
This application comes two months after another Old Town business, the Irish Harp, went to the town with a request to make its own seasonal patio permanent.
Jovie Joki, who owns the Irish Harp, said patio space is essential during tourist season.
“Maybe not so much right now,” she said. “But in the season, the peak season, it’s like a European town, right? People love to be outside.”
The Irish Harp hopes to formalize the patio it set up in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses like it are required to take down their temporary patios by the end of this year, as the town voted to end the program that it extended every year since the pandemic.
The town put forth that, if approved, the Irish Harp would need to provide a $436,000 cash-in-lieu payment for the private parking spots required to support it.
Marah Minor, communications co-ordinator for the town, said the only two establishments that have applied for permanent patios so far are the Olde Angel Inn and the Irish Harp.
Joki said there have been no updates since the restaurant appeared before council in September. Council is set to revisit the matter on Dec. 9.
“It’s still in the town’s hands right now,” she said.
Turner told The Lake Report that he can’t speak for what other businesses in the town are doing with their patios, but that this zoning change is a “natural” step for them.
“The patio area currently being used for the Angel Inn is zoned commercial and a patio is an allowable use,” he said in an email.
“So, converting it to (a) permanent patio is natural, given our customers have enjoyed it for the last four years, we are not looking to increase capacity, so increase(ing) parking shouldn’t be an issue.”
“We’re looking forward to welcoming customers back to the patio next season.”
Not everyone in Old Town agrees.
Gina Angelakopoulos, who with her husband, John, owns the Epicurean restaurant on Queen Street, have their own patio that they installed in 2016.
Gina spoke in front of council during a public meeting on Dec. 2 to oppose the Olde Angel Inn application, and also spoke up against the temporary patios earlier this year.
She and John also spoke to The Lake Report at their restaurant on Wednesday.
Gina said she’s happy to see the temporary patio program come to an end, but opposes making the patios permanent.
They cited heritage issues, with John saying it would “change the look of the town.” They also mentioned safety issues, such as going over capacity limits on the patio.
But they also see this as an issue of fairness: the temporary patios in town that people want to make permanent were able to bypass the process that restaurants pre-COVID went through.
“We followed the rules,” said John. “Those people, they break the rules. That’s the difference.”
The town previously studied what a permanent patio program could look like, but the work stopped before any findings were presented.
Kim and Scott Gauld, who own the Sunset Grill, got their patio in 2020 as part of the temporary patio program.
They support applications like the Olde Angel Inn’s and the Irish Harp’s to make their patios permanent. But they are upset with the town over how the program is ending.
