Belleville council has unanimously approved the purchase of 20 standardized street patios for lease to Downtown District businesses starting May the first.
Councillor Garnet Thompson explained the Business Improvement Association’s point of view.
“This is really bringing the downtown together, it’s uniform, it’s one design for the downtown and the other aspect is it’s controlling the accessibility.”
In past summers people had to walk out onto the street to get by some of the businesses patios.
Councillor Kathryn Brown mentioned increasing vandalism at night downtown and whether business people were concerned about the fact that under the lease agreement for the patios that they would be responsible for paying for any damage, not the city.
Clerk Matt MacDonald said there had been no comment from business owners on that stipulation.
There had been comment about the lease stipulation that the city could take action against a business if its
patio was left unoccupied for more than 10 consecutive days.
MacDonald said there had been one such operation in the past where the patio was only used sporadically and said
“it’s in no one’s best interest to have patios that are not being used at all and the city will address that issue if it happens again.”
The patios are offered in various sizes by manufacturer Pop Up Street Patios at a cost to the city of close to $490,000. A federal grant will pay most of the cost. Its patio and parklet equipment exceeds building codes and is used in Quinte West, Prince Edward County and many other communities.
Patios will be leased for the season at $450 for a small one, $550 for a medium sized one, and $650 for a large one (2 parking spaces plus the sidewalk).
The patios in Belleville’s Downtown District will be in use until the end of October.
Rendering of standardized temporary street patios by Pop Up Street Patios Inc. (Photo: Belleville council agenda April 11/23)
