M.G. McIntosh

OPINION

05/24/2021

CONCEPT REPORT

• Voice in the Wind Magazine Inc.

INTRODUCTION

There has been some discussion recently about the patios in Banff being an advantage for some restaurants and not others. This is primarily because not all restaurants in town have street access to Banff Avenue, but also because some restaurants have more space than others for a patio. To that end, I have a proposal.

PROPOSAL

What if we built patio space over top of outdoor parking lots, effectively turning them into carports? The patio space could be allocated to restaurants without patios or with smaller patio spaces to help even out the distribution of seats. It may be possible to do this over top of street parking too, allowing the hotel restaurants some patio seating in the process.

DISCUSSION

The design that I had in mind is essentially a temporary wooden deck. This design makes use of the parking lots’ ‘vertical’ space. As we all know, the building code prohibits any building over three stories high, but outdoor parking lots are ground level only. This could potentially leave room for a second level to be added to these structures without violation of the code. There is also potential for the town to collect revenue in the form of fees for the use of a patio.

DELEGATION REQUEST

1. To look into the feasibility of the CarPort Patio
2. To consider the effect of drink/food spills on vehicles below, and ways to manage this situation (example: a drainage system mounted to the bottom side of the deck)
3. Cost of waste management for the CarPort Patio
4. Costs to restaurants (fees, outdoor/plastic plates/forks/knives, etc)
5. Effect on traffic (if any)

CONCLUSION

Perhaps this idea will help resolve the current situation and hopefully the local, independent restaurants can stay afloat financially in the process. We’ll make it work, for all of us.

LINKS

1. Bear Street businesses concerned with proposed patio allocations – RMOToday.com