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Businesses disappointed with proposal to end Dining District street closures

They say the Dining District can learn from previous mistakes and become better
20200817 Downtown Dininig District KA
Last year, the downtown dining district closed Wyndham Street from Carden Street and Cork Street. Kenneth Armstrong/GuelphToday file photo

Will Downtown Guelph have a dining district this year? Yes. Will it be the same as last year? Probably not.

Staff at the City of Guelph are proposing key changes to the dining district — officially called the Seasonal Patio Program — after speaking to many businesses, patrons, and employees. 

The report to the Committee of the Whole suggests street closures be prohibited for the dining district except on special events and that businesses be allowed to extend their patios to sidewalks and their parking spots.

The key change is that with some special event exceptions, the streets would remain open to through traffic.

Richard Overland, owner of NV Kitchen + Bar on Wyndham Street, said he was quite shocked to read Guelph city staff’s recommendations against the dining district extended on the streets fully like it was last year.

“From my perspective, literally thousands of people that I spoke to, and I mean thousands, everybody loved it. The citizens loved it, I loved it,” said Overland.

He said he agrees that the patio extensions last year were not perfect but they could become much better this year with designated parking for delivery trucks and designated pick-up stations for take-out food. 

“To pull it back is a mistake, if anything, we should make it bigger,” said Overland adding that he’s been working in Downtown Guelph for 15 years and has never seen as many people as the Dining District attracted. 

Overland said it attracted people around the city who would never come downtown, especially people from the South end who ended up becoming regular customers. 

“That was people coming down to spend money. It was young families, it was retired people, it was young couples,” said Overland. 

“It was the demographic that the downtown needs and it came with a pocket full of cash.”

Jay MacFarlane, owner of Wimpy’s Diner on Wyndham Street, said he understands what the city means when it is trying to manage traffic flow, but the city has been able to pull it off already. 

He said last year, the businesses had little time to set up patios when the pandemic hit. This year, if given an advance notice, businesses would be better prepared to set up their patios, learning from their mistakes last year. He also suggests handicapped parking enforcement. 

“It went pretty quickly so you had to adjust on the fly but everyone did and it was successful,” said MacFarlane.

“I think this year with more time, our patios would be even more elaborate, even more attractive.”

MacFarlane said businesses that aren't for dining will also be able to take advantage of the foot traffic by setting up sidewalk sales in front of their stores. He said having the patios out on the roads daily brought the businesses together with owners constantly looking out for each other. 

“Anytime there was an issue with anybody, everybody would collaborate to solve it. Everything was kept in check and garbage was getting cleaned up and all that."

Emily Vamplew, owner of Wild Rose Consignment Clothing on Macdonell Street, said when it comes to parking concerns, that's an issue people will always complain about. 

“Personally, I was all for what downtown had to do to help the dining district,” said  Vamplew.

“For restaurants and bars to survive, if that's what we needed, I happily supported it. Does that mean some people were frustrated with parking? For sure, but that's life.”

Marty Williams, executive director of the Downtown Guelph Business Association, said the DGBA is advocating for one lane of traffic with the on- street patios. 

“One thing that's not negotiable is you have to have a 20-foot wide emergency lane so you can’t use that space no matter what,” said Williams. 

“To have one lane of traffic on each side, you need 23 feet of space. So you need a foot and a half less ( of patio room) than was there last year.”

Williams said the emergency lane was used for deliveries and garbage trucks and for others to be able to use the same lane, it only needs to be extended a bit more.

Williams said on a Tuesday afternoon, there's no demand that would suggest that roads be closed. However, the DGBA is in favour of closing roads on weekends in the summer or on special events when crowds are large and need to be spaced out. 

“There were a lot of times when the set up and road closure was not needed. We're not talking about setting it up and tearing it down,” said Williams.

“We're talking about setting it up in such a way that we have one lane open to traffic most of the week and sometimes easily closed off to traffic to make it a pedestrian zone in the centre.”


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Anam Khan

About the Author: Anam Khan

Anam Khan is a journalist who covers numerous beats in Guelph and Wellington County that include politics, crime, features, environment and social justice
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