Vancouver city council is waiving annual patio permit fees for 2021 to help restaurants and pubs recover from pandemic restrictions.
The measure will help Vancouver businesses save up to $2,800. Refunds or credit will be given to those who already paid their dues for the year.
The move adds to the city’s temporary expedited patio program, which was created to help restaurants stay afloat amid COVID-19 restrictions.
The city has already greenlit 544 temporary patios for the summer and is still accepting applications.
Vancouver city council is also looking to turn part of downtown’s Granville strip into a promenade.
Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung wants to explore the idea of closing select streets — including the Granville strip — to vehicle traffic to set up patio spaces and help businesses recover from COVID-19.
“I think that this is a really a movement towards a much bolder and creative use of our public space, really putting the priority on pedestrians,” she said.
“We’ve seen a lot of that public space in pop-up plazas in the city of Vancouver, but it shouldn’t just be a pandemic response. I think we have the opportunity to build a more people-friendly city moving forward.”
— With files from Simon Little