The Olde Angel Inn’s patio could get two more years to solve a property problem — but if the restaurant and patio properties can’t be merged, it will have to go for good.
Niagara-on-the-Lake councillors backed a bylaw on Tuesday that would let the existing 210-square-metre patio at 226 Regent St. reopen, after it had to close last December, and keep operating for up to two years.
“In order to move forward with getting the patio in place for next year, we need to put the temporary use bylaw in place,” said planner Mary Lou Tanner of NPG Planning Solutions last Tuesday, speaking on behalf of the applicant.
The restaurant operates next-door at 224 Regent St., while the patio space sits on a separate legal property. Opened in 2020 during the pandemic as part of the town’s temporary patio program, it had to close at the end of last year after the town decided not to renew the program for this year.
All the other temporary patios that were running in the downtown core also had to close.
Keith Turner, who runs the Olde Angel Inn, represents both properties in the application, but town staff say the two properties would have to be merged for the patio to stay permanently.
“This is not a permanent approval of the patio,” planning director Aimee Alderman told councillors.
Credit: PAIGE SEBURN
Planner Mary Lou Tanner makes the case for giving the Olde Angel Inn’s patio another two years while the owners work to resolve the property issue standing in the way of permanent approval.The temporary bylaw would give the owners time to work through the property, financing and planning issues and determine whether the two pieces of land can be merged. The same operation isn’t enough — the restaurant lot and patio lot have to become one legal property on paper.
If they want the patio permanently, the owners would then have to pursue another zoning amendment and other required approvals once the properties are merged.
If that does not happen, Alderman said the patio cannot stay.
“If after two years the owner determines that they are not looking to or can’t merge the properties, the patio will need to cease,” she said. “The patio would need to be removed at that point in time.”
Coun. Andrew Niven questioned why staff considered the parking situation acceptable.
Under the town’s zoning bylaw, the 210-square-metre patio would normally require seven parking spaces.
But because of earlier approvals, the Olde Angel Inn has no on-site parking for restaurant or patio customers. Two spaces at 226 Regent St. are reserved for the cottage rentals, while patrons are expected to use nearby municipal parking.
Tanner said the restaurant is licensed for 137 patrons in total, whether they are seated inside or outside.
Because the patio would not increase that number, Jordan Frost, the town’s director of public works and infrastructure services, said staff would not expect any additional vehicles at a given time. They therefore had no objection to the parking shortfall as long as the restaurant stays within its existing capacity.
Niven and Coun. Tim Balasiuk were the only councillors to oppose the recommendation.
