Beaches-East York Councillor seeks change to sidewalk patio approval rules after local business’ application delayed due to two objections

By MATTHEW STEPHENS

From the patio of Tiarrés Brunch & Bistro, Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford held a press conference to announce a motion he will be putting forward to city council to cut red tape when it comes to approving sidewalk patios.

His motion will call for an to increase in the number of objections required to be received from the community before a restaurant’s patio licence application is refused.

“For many small businesses like this one right here, the patio season makes the difference between surviving the winters, and having to close up their doors for good,” said Bradford on Tiarrés’ patio on the northeast corner of Queen Street East and Waverley Road.

At the July 17 press conference, Bradford was joined by The Beach BIA’s Lori Van Soelen and Russell Ward, as well as Milena Stanoeva, Senior Director of Public Affairs and Communications at Restaurants Canada, and Tiarrés owner Anotha Thamesh  to discuss his plans to speed up the application process for sidewalk patios.

In Toronto, sidewalk patios are separate from street patios, which are part of the 2020 Cafe T.O. program introduced as a temporary measure to help restaurants and bars during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both have their own separate application processes.

Currently, only two objections are required to be received before a sidewalk patio is refused – a situation that Tiarrés owner Thamesh found herself in after two of 47 neighbours objected to her application to operate her sidewalk café this year.

Tiarrés Brunch & Bistro opened its Beaches location at 1980 Queen St. E. in May of 2024. During that summer, Thamesh operated the café’s 80-seat sidewalk, with a permit from the city.

This year, she started the permit process to open the 78-square-metre sidewalk patio back in February. According to city officials, the application was complete on April 9.

City bylaws require residents within a 30-metre radius of restaurants to be notified of the application by mail. During the 21-day public notice period, Municipal Licensing & Standards is required to refuse a sidewalk café permit application if it receives more than one objection.

Despite many businesses in Queen Street East operating patios during the summer – including Tiarrés for four months last summer – Thamesh’s application was rejected after two of 47 neighbours objected, forcing her to take her proposal for the same patio to the appeal level.

Just last week, her application received approval from Toronto-East York Community Council after months of missing out on potential business.

“In a single word, it’s frustrating,” said Thamesh when describing the process to open her patio space at the press conference.

Thamesh said the back-and-forth she has experienced between herself and the city’s bylaw enforcement office slowed the application process further.

“The process kind of changes every other week in my opinion. You submit something and they’re like ‘Well, this is not right.’”

Bradford said his new motion will help to cut red tape for small businesses looking to cash in on their most profitable months of operation.

“So, next week at council, I will be introducing a members’ motion to fix this process. Because it should not just be two people that might have a personal grudge; two people that might actually live in the very same household that throw up an objection and stop a beloved patio in a neighbourhood and ruin patio season for months on end,” said Bradford during the conference.

“My motion will require objections to be received by two to 25 per cent of the people who were mailed notice letters.”

In November 2021, city council removed the notice and refusal portion of the patio application process, to assist businesses recovering from the COVID-10 pandemic.

In 2023, those restrictions were put back in place due a perceived “need to respond to community concerns”.

Bradford said that is “now delaying approvals and harming businesses” all over again.

With his upcoming motion, Bradford said he wants to break down bureaucratic barriers and streamline the patio application process.

“This is actually about fixing what’s not working at city hall. This is actually about cutting red tape to make it easier for small businesses and entrepreneurs who are trying to realize a dream in this city. We need to be working with them, not against them,” said Bradford.