Restaurants and retail stores across Kamloops can now set up on sidewalks and in parking lots in some cases.
Council has approved letting those businesses temporarily expand until Oct. 31.
The decision applies in the downtown, on the Tranquille corridor and for any private retail and restaurant properties.
Councillor Mike O’Reilly says this will benefit businesses across the city.
“And that’s incredibly important. The retail and restaurant industry in Kamloops is not just downtown and it’s not just on Tranquille. So I appreciate that staff took the extra time to make sure everybody was included. Because everybody’s hurting; not just what we see when we go to work each day,” O’Reilly says, referencing the impact to business from the COVID-19 pandemic this spring.
Those businesses won’t have to pay a fee to apply for expansion, and the city says applications will be processed within a week.
And the city will give some financial help to businesses that want to expand their patios, as council voted to pay for temporary letdown ramps from sidewalks for businesses that need them.
“To no fault of their own really, but there are businesses in town that don’t have a ramp even leading up ot their front doors. And I think we do need to consider accessibility here. We need to make this easy and we need to make it consistent for those members of our community who have a difficult time getting around,” councillor Kathy Sinclair says.
A motion was made by councillor Mike O’Reilly, and it passed by an 8-1 vote. Mayor Ken Christian was the only dissenting vote.
“We don’t know what this will cost, we don’t know the capacity within our trades group to do that. We would hate to be seen as the impediment to getting these patios open,” Christian says.
City staff gave a ballpark estimate that it could cost in the tens of thousands of dollars to pay for building letdown ramps. Staff also said the work to build them may have to be contracted out.
While the city will pay for letdown ramps, council voted against paying for fencing that patios would need when they expand onto sidewalks. A motion asking to do so was brought up by councillor Denis Walsh but was defeated 8-1.
(Photo: City of Kamloops)
