'Makes downtown more vibrant': Stouffville gets set for summer patio season

Town has been running the patio program since 2020

Yorkregion.com
May 2, 2023
Simon Martin

The weather is turning warmer, which means patio season is just around the corner.

For Beth-Lee Paraskevakos, the hot temperatures and outdoor eating can’t come soon enough. The owner of the Fickle Pickle Restaurant in Stouffville is looking forward to outdoor eating returning as the town is revving up its patio program for what could be one final year.

“The patios have been really super helpful,” Paraskevakos said. “The first two years, they were really a lifeline for us to stay alive.”

While much of life has returned to normal since the pandemic, Paraskevakos said the restaurant doesn’t have the same traffic as pre-pandemic levels.

“We are busy on weekends, but during the week, we are very slow,” she said. “We don’t have the same amount of workers eating breakfast.”

That patio really helps, because when it’s a nice day out, people really want to eat outside, Paraskevakos added.

The program is certainly appreciated by downtown merchants, according to executive director of the Stouffville Chamber of Commerce Karen Wootton.

“The patio program helps with a number of things,” she said. “It makes the downtown more vibrant, which is desperately needed right now. It really does help the local businesses as it does add more charm to Main Street.”

The town launched the patio program in the summer of 2020 to allow for local restaurants to open up outdoor seating to follow social distancing protocols in place.

Stouffville has spent around $25,000 over three years on the patio program, while the majority of expenses have been funded by grants and the COVID Relief Fund. The program will cost $30,000 in 2023 and be funded by a federal government grant. But this could be the town’s final year being involved in the program.

Ward 4 Coun. Rick Upton said the town tried to help downtown restaurants as much as they could during the pandemic with taxpayer money and grants, but now that the pandemic is over, it's not right to keep spending taxpayer money on the program. While a grant was secured in 2023 to cover the vast majority of the program going forward, Upton said restaurants are going to have to foot a greater percentage of the bill for patios.

“We either help everybody or nobody,” he said.

Upton suggested a 60-40 cost sharing split with businesses that take part in the program. Ward 6 Coun. Sue Sherban said it was too late to make changes for 2023.

“Our downtown is still struggling and we need to give the time and notification on a decision like this,” she said. “I know that residents in this area are very appreciative of the outdoor spots.”

Wootton said the patios will be different from last year with the bump-outs into parking spaces for pedestrians with patios on the sidewalk. She said the town’s work with the patio program hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“They are in no way obligated to do this sort of thing,” she said. “The town’s being generous doing this.”

Moving forward, Wootton said businesses have to realize they will have to shoulder some of the cost if they want to continue the program in future years. The other unknown lingering over the future of patios downtown is Main Street Reconstruction. The massive project long talked about could happen in 2025 or 2026, Upton said. The new Main Street design features include movable bollards to take away parking spots in the summertime for patios, Wootton said.