For the fifth time, restaurants, coffee shops, breweries and pubs within the Town of Comox that wish to place temporary outdoor seating on existing on-site open space can continue to do so under the municipality’s temporary patio and parklet program.

At the April 5 council meeting, council voted for an extension of a temporary patio and parklet program until Dec. 31, 2024 - a program that was first put into place in May 2020.

The program has been extended for the past few years due to the significant impacts caused to the restaurant industry by Covid.

The program has been extended for the past few years due to the significant impacts caused to the restaurant industry by Covid-19. It will, however, continue to have some restrictions, particularly a ban on structures that are constructed or placed on the property other than temporary seating, tables, fencing and serving facilities.

Other restrictions include the combined indoor and outdoor seating capacity cannot exceed pre-Covid maximum seating capacity; temporary seating in a parking lot does not reduce vehicle parking capacity by more than six parking spaces (or 50 per cent of existing onsite parking spaces) and that the use of temporary seating with a required zoning setback does not exceed 10 a.m. to 8 p.m and in other instances 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

According to Marvin Kamenz, the town’s director of development services, five businesses downtown and three businesses outside of downtown have taken advantage of the program and no complaints regarding temporary patios or parklets have been received.

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