Here’s some good news if you’ve been patiently waiting out coronavirus safety measures to get back to your favourite restaurant, and they don’t have a patio.
The City of Winnipeg is taking applications for restaurants to erect a temporary patio as the province reopens some services on Monday, May 4.
Under Manitoba’s Restoring Safe Services plan, restaurants will be able to begin patio service while following social distancing guidelines.
Dine-in service isn’t permitted until Phase Two of the plan, which won’t happen until at least the month of June.
In order for those restaurants that don’t usually operate a patio to join in, the City is allowing them to register a temporary space, in accordance with certain guidelines.
Some of those include:
- Patio must be open air — no tents, structures, or canopies.
- Patios with 60 persons or less shall be provided with one or more means of egress. Patios with greater than 60 persons shall provide two remote means of egress.
- A fence surrounding the patio is required if alcohol is being served.
- Patio must not extend in front of adjacent tenant spaces.
- Fence and all furniture within the patio must be equal to or less than 1 metre in height.
- The size of the patio should be limited as necessary to minimize disturbance where there are nearby residential dwellings. Patio service shall be stopped by 11 p.m. unless otherwise extended by the city.
Registration forms can be submitted by email to ppd-permit@winnipeg.ca.
The city says any applications received before 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 will be processed in time for businesses to open on Monday.
Temporary licences will be in effect until the end of May, and the city could extend that based on the province’s reopening plan, in accordance with medical health officials and the status of the coronavirus crisis.