Restaurant and bar owners across the city of Windsor are getting some help in what will be a pandemic-disrupted "patio season".
Windsor City Council has passed a series of measures designed to help bar and restaurant owners whose summer business is dependent on outdoor sales. The measures not only help the owners recoup business costs, but also ensure compliance with physical distancing guidelines from the province of Ontario.
Bars and restaurants are still closed to dining-room business and offer takeout, curbside and drive-thru only, but once those restrictions are eased, owners will be entitled to take advantage of the following.
- Sidewalk cafe permits and outdoor cafe fees will be waived for the rest of 2020. Bars and restaurants will then have the latitude to create accessible open spaces with physical distancing worked into the plan. The city said this alone may save the average eatery owner about $1,000.
- Rental fees for Lanspeary Park will be waived for an outdoor pilot project involving an outdoor food hall, consistent with a proposal to city council by WindsorEats, a tourism group that promotes Windsor-Essex restaurants.
- Business improvement associations (BIA) within the city will be asked to submit plans to the city for any temporary road or sidewalk closure made necessary by physical distancing while encouraging people to support neighbourhood businesses.
