Salmon Arm council is in favour of adding flavour to the city’s downtown with temporary seasonal sidewalk cafés.
The subject of allowing food and beverage vendors to get outdoors was raised in council through the June 18 minutes of the city’s Downtown Parking Commission, a brief section of which notes that more research is needed in relation to current bylaws. It also mentions how the downtown improvement association, Downtown Salmon Arm, will be conducting an opinion poll with its membership and reporting back in September.
Advocating for the concept, Couns. Chad Eliason and Debbie Cannon agreed sidewalk cafés would enhance the vibrancy and vitality of the downtown core.
“I’d like to see some of those sidewalk cafés this season, even if we did some on a trial basis, rather than your report and doing a poll of businesses downtown, because we’ve already been approached by some businesses that are really interested in doing that,” said Cannon.
City staff noted there are some concerns relating to liability and the possible loss of parking stalls, and the matter has been referred to Downtown Salmon Arm for feedback.
“We’re going to check with all the businesses that are affected…,” commented Downtown Salmon Arm president Cookie Langenfeld. “We thought there would have to be an application process so there’s opportunity for all people in the downtown core. We also wanted to check how it affected neighbouring businesses for parking for their customer base. So that was going to go to our next meeting. And we thought that it would probably not happen this year based on the bylaw activity that goes with it, finding out what costs are….”
Coun. Marg Kentel was also supportive, but agreed with Eliason and Cannon that whatever happens should be on a temporary, trial basis.
“If they can do it on Robson Street, which is, arguably, a little busier than some of the streets in Salmon Arm, they can do it on the streets in Kelowna and Victoria, then I think that we should be able to do it in Salmon Arm,” said Eliason.
Langenfeld, however, said the downtown organization had not discussed sidewalk cafés as a temporary thing, but for the long term.
“We were thinking of a temporary, seasonal outdoor patio, like they do in other communities and cities that are bigger than us,” responded Cannon. “That’s what we had in mind. I know that’s what I had in mind, as well as Coun. Eliason.”
