Belleville is creating “pop-up” spaces along the waterfront, allowing entrepreneurs to open up businesses for the summer.
Monday night, city council voted to support the idea of opening up the waterfront for businesses, through the system of pop-up containers.
Councillor Ryan Williams pointed to the Summer Water Sports Popup Village in Muskoka.
The city would put the containers on city property, then people will be able to put forward a proposal to open a business for the summer, beginning May 24 weekend.
Williams says there are at least three possible locations.
In a statement, Mayor Mitch Panciuk says, “We have incredible waterfront space that allows entrepreneurs to set up shops for waterfront and trail businesses, whether that’s kayaks, stand up paddle boarding or bike rentals or storefronts or horse drawn carriage tours.”
Williams added, “This project is important to me because we have entrepreneurs in the region that can activate our waterfront…and give us data before we look at more development on this multi-million dollar asset.”
It is expected the city would collect $20,000 from leases to offset the initial $40,000 expenditure.
The proposals’ time frame will close at the end of February, with the businesses opening in May.
