Downtown PG president Eoin Foley stated that another extension by the provincial government to give restaurant and bar owners more time to make their temporary outdoor patios permanent is much appreciated.
Originally, the application process was to expire at the end of this month but has been pushed back one final time to December 31st of 2024.
Foley, who owns Nancy O’s and Betulla Burning said any drafted plans will likely need to be seen by city officials as well.
“In most cases, it will have to go through your municipal government as well. Generally, you will architectural or engineered drawings to do that as a professional will need to take care of that aspect of it. It certainly is a bit of a drawback and a cost.”
“It does take a bit of work and with the extra weight that has been on the shoulders of restaurant and bar owners over the last few years it does (the extension) take a little pressure off some of those folks.”
Foley mentioned the extension will help the industry weather what has been a challenging time.
“We may not have those COVID restrictions on us anymore but we are feeling the pinch when it comes to massively rising costs of labour, labour shortages as well as product costs like food and alcohol being raised significantly.”
Temporary patios proved to be quite popular in PG during the height of the pandemic when indoor dining was halted due to provincial health restrictions.