City Council has agreed to simplify patio permits for businesses throughout Windsor and to a boardwalk plan for Walkerville.
In a special meeting of council Thursday night, officials agreed to allow 11 businesses in Walkerville between Gladstone Avenue and Argyle Road to construct boardwalk style pedestrian diversions.
That will allow businesses to extend their patios without encroaching on walkways.
Council also agreed to allow businesses in each ward to apply for the same exemption through their councillor if the criteria are met.
Ward 4 Councillor Chris Hold hopes the idea spreads.
"I'm very proud of the Walkerville BIA; they worked their tails off and came up with this idea and really moved on it," says Holt. "Hopefully they laid the ground work for others in the community."
He says council is open to every idea to keep businesses afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Let your councillor know because we just want to help, we just want to you to recover some of the money that you've lost over the past 100 days and get out alive and keep your employees working," added Holt.
Council also agreed to a blanket understanding to allow new patios and extensions of existing patios, as long as they follow guidelines outlined by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Temporarily cutting the red tape is going to do a lot of good for business owners, according to Holt.
"That's going to give a lot of bars and restaurants freedom to move very quickly in establishing their new extended patios in front of their business," he says.
Fees associated with the patio applications and extensions were also waived for the rest of the year by council Thursday night.
Council also adjusted the required liability insurance from $5-million to $2-million for 2020.