Thompson-Okanagan restaurants battling bureaucracy to get patios open
Summer is coming soon and some bars and restaurant owners still don’t know if they will be serving liquor on their patios this year.
In June 2021, thousands of temporary patios were used to expand restaurant space when indoor dining was banned due to COVID-19, and were authorized by the province to legally serve liquor.
Now the provincial licensing that allows alcohol to be served on the temporary patios is coming to an end as of June 1, and restaurants will need permanent status to continue serving liquor in the outdoor spaces.
Some business owners haven’t transitioned their temporary patios to permanent status yet, which can take months, and are hoping the provincial government will extend the deadline. They're caught in two layers of bureaucracy trying to deal with the City of Kamloops and the provincial government.
READ MORE: B.C. restaurants push back as govt axes temporary patio permits
Shantel Arr is a co-owner at Alchemy Brewing Company, a brew pub on Victoria Street in Kamloops. She wants to extend a back patio and re-open another one in front for the sunny season but has not obtained permanent status.
“Last year when (provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry) put us all to patio dining only, the City approved everyone who applied to use a temporary expanded service area,” she said. “That’s why all those extensions are on Victoria Street. Now we are trying to reapply and the City isn’t responding. Last year we were told by the City these patios would be grandfathered in unless we close or move location.”
Arr is anxious to get set up for the coming season but is unclear whether she will be permitted to do so legally.
“The liquor inspectors tell us to talk to the City,” she said. “To have everyone scrambling to get their permanent licences for outdoors by June doesn’t seem right. Other business owners I know have said they don’t care and are just setting the patios up anyways, but then we risk warnings and fines.”
READ MORE: Businesses with patios in Kelowna, Kamloops fighting cold wind along with COVID restrictions
Rod Martin is the planning and development manager for the City of Kamloops.
He said the City is allowing the extended patios to remain this year but the provincial liquor licensing branch is not necessarily allowing liquor services without owners having a permanent license after June. 1.
“We sent a letter to the province last month asking them to extend the liquor licensing regulations on the temporary patios until the end of this season,” he said. “We just want to give restaurants more time to get the permanent licensing in place for next year’s season.”
Martin said he has not heard back from the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch as to whether they will be lending more leniency and extending the program beyond June 1.
“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,” said the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General in an emailed statement. “Work is advancing to assist as some communities require more time.”
Currently, for licensees to operate their temporary patios permanently past the June 1, 2022 expiry date, they must apply for new outdoor patio permanent structural change or a new interior service area permanent structural change.
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, the ministry said.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
