Patios Program

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This engagement has concluded. Thank you to everyone who participated.  

Patios Program: Picture of people sitting on a Squamish patio on a warm summer evening


The District of Squamish wants to hear from community members and business owners as we look to make improvements to the patio program.

The engagement opportunities for this project are now closed. There were separate surveys for community members and business owners. The surveys closed on March 9, 2022.

Changes to the Patio Program

Updates to the Patio Program were presented to Council on April 5, 2022. Council adopted the new Patio Program on May 3, 2022. The new program includes the following updates:

BYLAW

ORIGINAL PATIO PROGRAM

UPDATED PATIO PROGRAM

Fees & Charges

  • Private Delegated Development Permit: $500
  • District Curbside/Sidewalk Patio: $0 (Renewal Fee: $0)
  • All Patios (>30 occupancy): $300
  • All Patios (<30 occupancy): $175
  • Annual Fee for District land patios: $50/year (Curbside/Sidewalk Patios only)
  • All patios are exempt from Delegated Development Permit fees.

Land Development Procedures

  • Outdoor patios were included in the delegated development permit exemption, however it referenced a repealed bylaw that did not include private land patios.
  • Keeps the delegated development permit exemption for outdoor dining patios and removes reference to the repealed bylaw. This means that both private and District land patios are now included in the exemption.

Business Licence

  • Did not make any reference to sidewalk cafes or patios.
  • Includes new outdoor dining patio business licence requirements and new definitions, which includes reference to sidewalk cafes and patios.

Traffic

  • Only included the definition of and references to Sidewalk Café’s.
  • Includes a new outdoor dining patio definition and references in the bylaw.
  • Extends the District land licence term from 3 to 5 years.

Zoning

  • Only allowed a patio parking exemption for the business park
  • Patio parking exemption is extended to include restaurant and downtown uses.
  • New definitions added.
  • Class B bicycle parking amendments are included to comply with new patio regulations.


More details about these updates can be found in the Report to Council from April 5, as well as the Agenda from Council’s Regular Business Meeting on April 5.

Background:

Squamish has allowed and supported patio use and expansion for quite some time, both on private land and on District land through the District’s sidewalk patio program. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Squamish, along with many other municipalities across BC, created a Temporary Patio Program. This program supports food service businesses to create quick and safe outdoor extensions of their restaurants and cafes. 20 businesses have either expanded their patios or created new patios for the first time through the Temporary program.

This Temporary Patio Program comes to an end in June of this year. The District is creating a new and improved patio application process that will learn from the ease of the temporary patio application process. The goal of this new patio program is to make patios more enjoyable for all community members and to make the application process more straightforward and fair for local businesses. Proposed changes also include topics on patio design, parking and fees.

As the District plans for the new patio program we want to check in with the community and businesses to see what is working well with patios and where we can make improvements.

We want to hear from you if:

  • You are a patio user;
  • You live near a patio;
  • You are a customer of a business near a patio;
  • You are a business owner of a patio;
  • You are a business owner who wants to create a patio; or
  • You are a business owner near a patio.

Patios Program: Picture of people sitting on a Squamish patio on a warm summer evening


The District of Squamish wants to hear from community members and business owners as we look to make improvements to the patio program.

The engagement opportunities for this project are now closed. There were separate surveys for community members and business owners. The surveys closed on March 9, 2022.

Changes to the Patio Program

Updates to the Patio Program were presented to Council on April 5, 2022. Council adopted the new Patio Program on May 3, 2022. The new program includes the following updates:

BYLAW

ORIGINAL PATIO PROGRAM

UPDATED PATIO PROGRAM

Fees & Charges

  • Private Delegated Development Permit: $500
  • District Curbside/Sidewalk Patio: $0 (Renewal Fee: $0)
  • All Patios (>30 occupancy): $300
  • All Patios (<30 occupancy): $175
  • Annual Fee for District land patios: $50/year (Curbside/Sidewalk Patios only)
  • All patios are exempt from Delegated Development Permit fees.

Land Development Procedures

  • Outdoor patios were included in the delegated development permit exemption, however it referenced a repealed bylaw that did not include private land patios.
  • Keeps the delegated development permit exemption for outdoor dining patios and removes reference to the repealed bylaw. This means that both private and District land patios are now included in the exemption.

Business Licence

  • Did not make any reference to sidewalk cafes or patios.
  • Includes new outdoor dining patio business licence requirements and new definitions, which includes reference to sidewalk cafes and patios.

Traffic

  • Only included the definition of and references to Sidewalk Café’s.
  • Includes a new outdoor dining patio definition and references in the bylaw.
  • Extends the District land licence term from 3 to 5 years.

Zoning

  • Only allowed a patio parking exemption for the business park
  • Patio parking exemption is extended to include restaurant and downtown uses.
  • New definitions added.
  • Class B bicycle parking amendments are included to comply with new patio regulations.


More details about these updates can be found in the Report to Council from April 5, as well as the Agenda from Council’s Regular Business Meeting on April 5.

Background:

Squamish has allowed and supported patio use and expansion for quite some time, both on private land and on District land through the District’s sidewalk patio program. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Squamish, along with many other municipalities across BC, created a Temporary Patio Program. This program supports food service businesses to create quick and safe outdoor extensions of their restaurants and cafes. 20 businesses have either expanded their patios or created new patios for the first time through the Temporary program.

This Temporary Patio Program comes to an end in June of this year. The District is creating a new and improved patio application process that will learn from the ease of the temporary patio application process. The goal of this new patio program is to make patios more enjoyable for all community members and to make the application process more straightforward and fair for local businesses. Proposed changes also include topics on patio design, parking and fees.

As the District plans for the new patio program we want to check in with the community and businesses to see what is working well with patios and where we can make improvements.

We want to hear from you if:

  • You are a patio user;
  • You live near a patio;
  • You are a customer of a business near a patio;
  • You are a business owner of a patio;
  • You are a business owner who wants to create a patio; or
  • You are a business owner near a patio.
  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded. Thank you to those who participated. We will share what we heard from the community shortly.

    Patio Program Business Survey

    This engagement has concluded. Thank you to everyone who participated.  
    Share Patio Program Business Survey on Facebook Share Patio Program Business Survey on Twitter Share Patio Program Business Survey on Linkedin Email Patio Program Business Survey link
  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded. Thank you to those who participated. We will share what we heard from the community shortly.

    Patio Program Community Survey

    This engagement has concluded. Thank you to everyone who participated.  
    Share Patio Program Community Survey on Facebook Share Patio Program Community Survey on Twitter Share Patio Program Community Survey on Linkedin Email Patio Program Community Survey link