Demand for outdoor patios rising in Maple Ridge, staff says

Residents have a growing appetite for more curbside patios in Maple Ridge but space may be limited, according to a report to council on Tuesday evening. 

The finding came during staff’s first update to council on the inaugural seasonal patio program, which the city launched in February as a way for businesses to add or retain a temporary patio on public property (sidewalks, curbs, or parking spots) that was set up during the pandemic.

Since the program’s inception, five businesses have either expressed interest in the program, are in the approval process, or already had their application approved — including one shop that is bringing a never-before-seen type of patio to Maple Ridge.

“A new type of patio is going to be taking over the full sidewalk of an area,” said Jeff Baker, the city’s business retention and expansion advisor. 

The city declined to name the business that will run that new patio in an email to The Ridge, as applications are still in the final approval stages. All businesses operating patios under the program will be announced at a later date.

An additional 38 patios — which aren’t reported under the city’s patio program — are currently being operated on private properties. 

That number has also likely risen in recent years, Baker said. 

Although many people in the city have grown accustomed to dining outdoors in the summer following the introduction of many patios in the pandemic, he added that a limiting factor to grow the initiative may be a lack of space to create safe and accessible patios.

“If a sidewalk, or even internally in pedestrian flow in a shopping centre, if it’s not wide enough to allow for the safe and accessible passage of pedestrians they may not be able to do that,” Baker said.

“But I think there is a lot of creativity and innovation that can be unleashed by the business community.” 

Coun. Jenny Tan, who supports the patio initiative, also said that the city could do more for businesses to implement more outdoor dining options — especially as many local food businesses have struggled since the pandemic.

The province’s restaurant industry has seen business bankruptcies climb by 48 per cent in the last 10 months, according to a report from the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association. 

“We as a council, I think, are committed to a vibrant downtown,” Tan said. 

She suggested the city look at some calls that were recently recommended to municipal governments by the B.C. Restaurants and Food Services Association, such as a three-day approval process for patios.

Under the city’s patio program guidelines, staff are expected to reach out to businesses within two business days for a sidewalk café application or 10 to 15 business days for a front porch spot, parking pop-up or full sidewalk request.

The city also doesn’t offer any financial assistance for the installation, maintenance, removal or storage of patios. 

However, Coun. Sunny Schiller suggested the city council explore the possibility of offering indirect support for businesses.

“In some ways, I feel like we are being a bit hands off,” she said. “I imagine that it is a lot for small business owners to take on ordering lumber, storing it somewhere. Making some efficiencies there could be another way of supporting this.” 

Maple Ridge got its first curbside patio in 2017. 

The popularity of patios took off during the pandemic as the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) permitted businesses to open outdoor dining options — temporary expanded service areas (TESA) — without increasing their occupancy level.

Last year, the province announced that the licences for TESAs would expire in December 2024, and businesses who wanted to keep the patios would need to apply to the LCRB to make it permanent.

Maple Ridge announced later that year that all temporary curbside patios located in public parking areas would need to be removed by this spring.

The decision received backlash from members of the community who grew fond of the outdoor patios, which primarily dotted 224 Street in the city’s downtown core.

But the number of applicants to the city’s new program will roughly bring back the same number of outdoor patios that were implemented under the province’s temporary TESA initiative. Two of the applications were made from businesses that previously operated a curbside patio in the pandemic.

“The number is going to be consistent and what I think is going to be interesting is the new type of patio,” said Baker. 

Coun. Korleen Carreras also echoed Tan and Schiller’s calls to do more for local businesses, saying that council should incorporate outdoor patio design plans for future densification proposals in Maple Ridge, such as near Lougheed Highway, Dewdney Trunk Road or the downtown core. 

“Right now, we are just trying to fit it into something that was not built for patios. Going forward, if that could be a lens we are taking a look at, I think that would be helpful for increasing our patio space,” she said.  

Staff are expected to return to council by the end of the year with another update on the city’s seasonal patio program.