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(BRIE WELTON / iNFOnews.ca)
March 12, 2024 - 7:00 PM
Parking spots will make way for patios in downtown Kamloops again.
They'll come at a price for businesses and the city, but it means visitors to downtown can once again eat and drink outside during warmer months.
Businesses that opt in can set them up in the spring and take them down in the fall after a unanimous approval from Kamloops City council.
Temporary patios were installed in an effort to boost customer traffic safely for restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. They stayed for two years, then after spending more than $180,000 to have them removed, the patio spaces returned to parking this past fall.
Although they cost the City parking spaces, the benefit "outweighs the loss," according to Rod Martin of the City's planning department.
It's open to North Shore and downtown businesses, which was the case before the last ones were removed. At the time, they were overwhelmingly used downtown.
The downtown business association surveyed non-eateries for opinions on the patios and whether they should return. More than 60% were in favour, even though they won't be using the patios.
Businesses that open a patio will have to spend $700 per parking space to the City each season, which offsets some of the $2,600 in parking fees during the season.
They will have the option to either install a patio in front of the business and extending the sidewalk over the parking space, or placing the patio over the parking space.
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