District of Squamish is considering opening up sidewalks, roads and parking stalls for local businesses.
At a committee meeting on May 12, council debated how the district’s assets such as parks, roads and sidewalks could be opened up to support physical distancing and enable small business recovery.
Under current bylaws, local businesses can apply for road closures for events. The district can also decide on its own to close a road or a street, sidewalks or an individual parking stall.
Closing down local roads for a specific time period would allow local businesses to extend their operations outside.
Recently, district also received a letter written on behalf of 14,500 hospitality businesses, including restaurants, bars, craft breweries, and winery tasting rooms. Written by Jeff Guignard, the executive director at Alliance of Beverage Licensees, the letter urges district to allow outdoor space for dining.
“The majority of BC’s restaurants, bars, and tasting lounges have closed, laid off staff, and are facing bankruptcy and financial collapse. Even those businesses remaining opening during this pandemic to offer limited takeout and delivery services and are experiencing dramatically reduced revenues and are struggling to survive,” he said.
Guignard is urging district to increase flexibility for patio types and sizes; increase the space for existing patios; allow and increase the use of parklets and public space for dining; allow pop-up outdoor dining; and allow increase in picnic or outdoor space for dining.
Meanwhile, Tourism Squamish has launched a survey asking people for their input on the plans. At a council meeting, councillors were in support of opening up the public places for local businesses.
Mayor Karen Elliott said the district needed to work with Downtown BIA on opening up the public spaces for local businesses.
tldlukyn says
This is how Boulder Colorado is all the time.