Chilliwack's Mill Street ready for patio season

Mill Street's soon-to-be competed reconfiguration will allow for sidewalk patios along the downtown street.

image credit: City of Chilliwack

Excitement is brewing at city hall as the new Mill Street nears completion.

One of the key elements of the reconfigured and upgraded downtown street is a wider west sidewalk to make for a more pedestrian-friendly corridor.

To make way for the wider sidewalk, while maintaining the 18 parking spotssomething demanded by Mill Street merchantsthe roadway will become one-way northbound.

The expanded walkway will allow for the planting of street trees and the possibility of sidewalk patios.

At Tuesdays meeting, city council approved a staff recommendation to reduce the normal application fees to $10 for 2014 for so-called encroachment permits to allow for small patios.

Without this reduction, a small patio at 1.5-by-five metres, which would allow for three small tables with two chairs each, would face $670 in fees.

Of that, $400 is a non-refundable application fee, $50 a council referral fee, and $120 is the annual fee.

Council agreed that while permitting was important, it should be encouraged and a reduction in fees for 2014 was a good idea.

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Chilliwack's Mill Street ready for patio season