Proposed sidewalk patio bylaw under discussion

City staff have met with restaurant owners to discuss a proposed patio bylaw for HRM.

Adam Burns

The rules around sidewalk patios in HRM could soon change, now that city staff have met with restaurant owners to discuss the issue.

Staff have not released details of the proposed bylaw, as it has not been presented to council.

But the citys right-of-way supervisor tells Global News now is the time for a bylaw, since only a policy on patios exists now.

Itll give us some tools that maybe we should have at our disposal for explaining a little bit better what we expect to have out there, said Christopher Davis.

But for the most part, its really to just move with the industry.

Paul MacKinnon, executive director of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, tells Global the commission is waiting to see the proposal before having its say but he did shed some light on what could be in the proposed bylaw.

The idea of having some cafes open year-round, if appropriate the other main piece that I think will probably raise a lot of questions is just the fee structure. It will be changing, MacKinnon said.

City staff is expected to present a report to council on the issue early next month.

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Proposed sidewalk patio bylaw under discussion