City hopes parklet and patio grants will help local eateries

By Herald on April 20, 2021.

City officials speak with reporters at a launch of a downtown parklet project in 2019. Herald file photo

Tim Kalinowski -Lethbridge Herald – tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

With renewed public health requirements restricting local eateries and pubs to takeout or outdoor patio dining only, Lethbridge city council has stepped up to try to help as many local businesses as possible to continue to serve customers safely this spring and summer.

Lethbridge city council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve up to $40,000 in grants to provide businesses city-wide with expanded outdoor seating options for patios or parklets. The grants will be funded from City’s reserves, and the amount provided might be revisited at a future council meeting if there is more demand than anticipated from local business owners.

Business owners can apply for a 50 per cent matching grant, up to $1,000, for improvement-related costs such as furnishings, barriers, heaters, plants and planters. The grants approvals will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2021 for those who wish to apply.

The motion was introduced by Coun. Mark Campbell as a late addition to the city council agenda for the regular meeting on Tuesday. Campbell was gratified the motion received such strong support from the entire city council.

“The recent provincial announcement of COVID-19 restrictions has again limited indoor seating capacities for businesses,” said Campbell. “Council believes increasing support for this program is an important decision to continue to support our business community.”

Coun. Belinda Crowson, who chaired city council’s Community and Economic Recovery Committee in 2020 as the City grappled with the economic fallout of the pandemic to local businesses, thanked Campbell for his initiative which, she said, addressed an oversight in the City’s previous planning around helping business weather the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think this was in some ways an oversight when we were looking at things last year,” she confirmed. “We were talking about this (at committee), but it just never came forward. And this is something absolutely vital. This will certainly help the small businesses, but we also know one of the things that is driving the COVID numbers is indoor, private gatherings, which are not permitted. But if we can have these spaces where people can properly follow the rules outdoors and support local business, it will help everyone in the community.”

Coun. Blaine Hyggen, who originally proposed the Jan. 1, 2021 backdate for the initiative, also sought reassurances from city staff excessive red tape in the permitting process would not get in the way of eligible businesses getting these grants from the City sooner rather than later.

Staff said it generally takes about 48 hours for a permit to be granted to eligible businesses upon completion of an onsite safety inspection, and the focus would be on getting the grants in the hands to those who need them as soon as possible.

For more information on the new outdoor parklet and patio grant program visit http://www.lethbridge.ca/Doing-Business.

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