A number of food and beverage industry leaders are calling on cities like Prince George to reduce the red tape for outdoor patios.
In a letter sent to city council last night (Monday), recommendations include extending current patio programs without new restrictions or fees as well as streamlining the approval process for small businesses.
Ian Tostenson with the BC Food and Restaurant Association told MyPGNow.com the pandemic really challenged the hospitality sector.
“You know, we are grateful for all of the help we did get especially from the federal government with the wage and rent subsidies but we were basically operating at a 25% operating reduction in sales for two years. Today’s challenges are obviously inflation but our biggest one is our shortage in the labour supply.”
According to the letter, 80% of hospitality businesses are losing money and it’s anticipated two-thirds of these storefronts won’t return to profitability for another one and a half years.
Tostenson also mentioned outdoor patios were considered a lifeline during the early days of the pandemic for both the business and the public.
“If you had a patio going last year, let’s get the patio going again this year. The second thing that is really important is the cost – so we saw some municipalities start to charge for the patio space and I am thinking c’mon, we don’t have the money to do that – these operators have literally been through a war the last two years.”
“Virtually, for every municipality in British Columbia (during the pandemic’s early stages) was to get as much dining space outside as we can, keep the red tape down, keep the costs because we really wanted to listen to Dr. Henry who suggested we should be outside.”
Earlier this month, Downtown PG President and local restaurant owner Eoin Foley also voiced his frustrations with the updated provincial process.
“There is a lot more red tape and a lot more work with one of the requirements being an engineered drawing which is going to be quite tough for a lot of people. A lot of these firms (engineering) who are capable of these drawings don’t really want to do small projects like this. If the average cafe or restaurant wants to get that done they will have to pay a lot more money.”
“Personally, I’m in a unique situation where a family member is an engineer. It was a lot easier and significantly cheaper for me to go through that but for most people, it’s not really going to be that easy.”
Last summer, PG City Council voted to permit the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) to allow “liquor primary” establishments to have temporarily expanded service areas until June 1, of this year with more guidance expected.
However, according to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, for licensees to operate their Temporary Expanded Service Area permanently past the June 1, 2022 expiry date, they must apply for a new outdoor patio permanent structural change (if their TESA is located outdoors) or a new interior service area permanent structural change (if their TESA is located indoors).
The Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch accepted new applications until the end of last October. Furthermore, as part of this process, licensees pay an application fee ranging from $330-440 – a one-time fee only.
The Ministry issued the following statement to MyPGNow.com
- Government has heard that the June 2022 extension is too soon for some licensees and local governments to get patio policies in place and applications submitted. Work is underway to identify options to address the need for additional time for businesses and local governments.
- In June 2021, the Province announced that it would amend the Liquor Control and Licensing Regulation to enable the General Manager of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) to extend existing Temporary Expanded Service Area (TESA) authorizations (i.e. patios) until June 1, 2022.
- The extension provided time for local authorities to update their patio policies, and for licensees to apply to make their TESA authorizations permanent and to prevent the risk of disruptions to business during the application process.
- All licensees with existing TESA authorizations, whose local governments did not raise concerns, were reissued authorization letters automatically extending the expiry date of their temporary authorizations – at no cost to the licensee – through to June 1, 2022.
- For licensees to operate their TESA permanently past the June 1, 2022 expiry date, they must apply for new outdoor patio permanent structural change (if their TESA is located outdoors) or a new interior service area permanent structural change (if their TESA is located indoors). The LCRB accepted new TESA applications until October 31, 2021. As part of this process, licensees pay an application fee that ranged from $330-440 – this is a one-time fee only.
- As support for some patios was only an interim measure intended to help businesses weather the pandemic, local governments and Indigenous Nations need to evaluate structures and outdoor licensed areas in terms of their community’s unique requirements and approach to outdoor dining before those temporary authorizations are made permanent by the LCRB.
In addition, Prince George Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Corrigall submitted a letter to city council, which can be found here.