It's not a reversal, but a compromise and Chair of the Windsor Downtown Business Improvement Association, Larry Horwitz will take it.
Windsor city council's decision during budget deliberations to go back on a promise to hold the fees on patios for streetside cafes came as a shock to many business owners, and Horwitz says it could have cost the region up to 100 jobs. Horwitz believes council overlooked the bump up in fees.
"I think they really have to take a look at this in the future and realize you can't do an entire budget in one evening," he says. "Because of that, a lot of this was not looked at carefully."
Instead of $6/sq ft, the city will charge $0.50/sq ft this year, and then an additional $0.50/sq ft each year for the next six years. It'll be capped at $3/sq ft until 2021.
"Right now, our urban areas, the Eries, the Ottawas, the downtowns are going through a real hard economic hardship," says Horwitz. "Nickle and diming them is not going to help."
Horwitz hopes it's enough to spare businesses that were considering folding because of the jump in fees.
