Victoria council has given its blessing for a pair of Government Street patios to become permanent fixtures.
Council voted unanimously this week to support applications by the Victoria Pub Company to license existing patios at its Irish Times and Bard and Banker pubs.
Coun. Chris Coleman said while some have expressed concerns about noise and the perception the pubs are expanding their capacity, neither application would result in the pub adding to its seating.
Rather, the licensing would regularize what was initially a temporary pandemic measure to allow businesses to operate, he said.
“During COVID, we developed a patio culture that is now pervasive and it’s happening everywhere. We don’t just see it with pubs, we see it with coffee shops, we see it at a number of places. We’ve become perhaps slightly more European in that context and I think that’s a good thing,” he said.
“There are impacts, so yes we take the comments seriously that we’ve heard, and we do need to turn our minds to making downtown livable for everybody.
“But this shouldn’t stop us regularizing this. We’re making it more permanent.”
The city’s endorsement is contingent on the pubs maintaining daily hours of service from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. inside and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. outside.
In the case of the Irish Times, the application is to add its existing 24-person outdoor patio — currently licensed under the provincial Temporary Expanded Service Area program — to its liquor primary licence.
The temporary program expired Dec. 31, so the patio requires a new approval before it can be used.
Similarly, in the case of the Bard and Banker, the application is to license an existing 80-person outdoor patio under the establishment’s liquor primary licence.
Coun. Jeremy Caradonna said the Victoria Pub Company has been a strong partner in the downtown and the patios have helped activate the street.
“It draws people in and makes it feel homier and it adds to the vibrancy on the streetscape that we want to see,” he said.
A final decision on the licence change is in the hands of the provincial Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch.
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