Proposed patio regulations worry downtown Kingston restaurants

You might not know it by stepping outside or by looking at the thermometer, but it’s early October and in Kingston, it’s still patio season.

As patio season comes to a close, downtown Kingston restaurants are not looking forward to new rules which could be implemented in the spring. Exactly how the new regulations will look is still up for discussion, but restaurant owners believe the new rules could hurt their bottom line.

“It was a surprise for the stakeholders because they hadn’t seen the final document. There are things in there that the average person isn’t going to know that is a problem,” Downtown Kingston Executive Director Marjio Cuerrier said.

Under the proposed changes, the city will no longer allow wooden tables on patios and they must close by 11 p.m. Not only that, the city is restricting the type of umbrellas restaurants can have on their patio. They must be unbranded, fire-resistant and be the same colour and dimensions throughout downtown.

“Umbrellas are part of their relationship and their deal, their contract with their suppliers, so they get umbrellas for free in exchange for advertising for their suppliers and it’s also part of their brand,” Cuerrier said.

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It would also call for patio tables to be at least 1.1 metres apart.

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“That’s very difficult for patios to do,” Cuerrier said. “It means in most cases they have to shut down at least a third, if not half of their patio space, which revenue-wise you may as well not even have a patio.”

The document is still a work in progress and the city says it’s committed to finding a balance between best practices and accommodating downtown restaurants with whom they’re actively consulting.

“(We) are intending to meet with the downtown BIA to reflect and share some of those concerns and feedback that we received and look at potential changes to the standards,” City of Kingston Manager of Transportation Policy and Programs Matt Kussin said.

In an industry still recovering from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, those proposed regulations could make it hard for restaurants to succeed if they come into effect next spring — just in time for the patio season to start over again.