DREADING LAST CALL
As the city explores ways to help with patio space, restaurant owners like Steve Ryan, left, and Andrew Marquis are forced to consider their chances of survival in a pandemic.
Just because the city might allow more patio space for restaurants doesn’t mean it’s a no-brainer for those small businesses to reopen when the province gives the green light.
Steve Ryan, owner of The Senate Tavern restaurants in Old Ottawa South and the ByWard Market, said the city is doing the right thing by exploring ways to expand patios and allow businesses to make money if, as expected, there will be restrictions on restaurant capacities. However, the necessary limitations on the number of people at these businesses could ultimately kill them, he said.
Using his ByWard Market location as an example, Ryan said even doubling his existing 15-person patio could require an immediate capacity reduction, perhaps by half, to comply with physical-distancing protocols under COVID-19.
“It would definitely help. But long-term, it’s only one piece that has to happen,” Ryan said.
“I’m just saying that this is not enough, and anybody that understands the industry understands that even if you make it through these really unfortunate times, that in three to six months from now you’re going to be going under anyway because the capacities aren’t going to be allowed.”
The revenue, he said, just won’t cover the huge rents and other overhead costs, and the bills are piling up.
“There does come a time where you have to cut that emotional attachment to something and make a business decision,” Ryan said.
City hall is exploring every municipal option to lift Ottawa’s hospitality industry out of financial ruin when strict operating rules ease up.
Council on Wednesday approved free daily rent in 2020 for restaurant patios encroaching on city property. Staff are also producing a report offering more ways the city could allow more and larger patios, which could boost restaurants with no outdoor seating areas.
Coun. Mathieu Fleury, whose Rideau-Vanier ward includes the ByWard Market, said he has been in discussions about patios for weeks with the ByWard Market business improvement area.
City staff have turned their minds to logistics when it comes to possibly closing street space for patios, but the city doesn’t know the intentions of businesses when the province loosens the restrictions, Fleury said.
“We don’t know necessarily who will be open, yet we have to plan as if they are,” Fleury said.
Another challenge is satisfying competing commercial interests in the Market. The city could block some street space so restaurants can safely run patios, but it could hurt shops that have been counting on curbside pickups as part of their new business models.
The pandemic restrictions could also support an idea often tossed around in the ByWard Market: making more streets car-free.
As the city considers the financial health of restaurants, it must also take into account the possibility of more people being drawn to the area and its ability to encourage physical distancing.
The potential for closing streets is on Fleury’s mind.
“It’s very possible, but it would be too early for me to go there,” Fleury said.
Mayor Jim Watson said the city’s new patio measures are a small help for the restaurant industry at a time when the city doesn’t know what rules the province will put in place for reopenings.
Watson said the city should try to supplement half-capacity rules with more outdoor space for restaurants to keep patrons safely spaced apart.
Public health officials are also included in the planning.
Dr. Vera Etches, the city’s medical officer of health, said indoor activities would be higher-risk on the spectrum of virus transmission, so moving people outdoors and keeping them further apart is one solution for restaurants when eat-in service returns.
The city is exploring scenarios in which patios could be easily established on the parking portions of streets, especially since there’s a lower demand for parking during the pandemic closures. The template could be the wooden patio structures set up in front of some restaurants in central commercial districts.
Private parking lots attached to restaurants and those in commercial plazas could also be eyed for new patios, according to Stephen Willis, the general manager of planning, infrastructure and economic development.
“We’re looking for every opportunity to make it as easy as possible for (restaurants) to do that and it’s our job to try to help in this very difficult time,” Willis said.
Ryan said a couple dozen local restaurateurs were planning a video conference this week to discuss the industry and the help they need from governments. jwilling@postmedia.com twitter.com/JonathanWilling