1. 434 ½ PRESTON STreet - GRANDFATHERING OF PATIO

Clause de droit acquis de la terrasse du 434 ½, rue PRESTON

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AS AMENDED

That Council:

1. waive the minimum sidewalk width required by the Encroachment By-law and recommend to Council that the patio at 434 1/2 Preston Street, Pub Italia, be permitted to remain at the existing size; and

2. direct staff to review the original Preston Street reconstruction design plan in order to ensure that the original design was respected in terms of the light and tree standards. If there are any differences in the two, that staff make the necessary corrections and report back to Transportation Committee via memo.

RecommandationS MODIFIÉES du ComitÉ

Que le Conseil :

1. renonce aux exigences liées à la largeur minimale des trottoirs requises par le Règlement sur les empiètements et recommande au Conseil de permettre que la terrasse du 434 1/2, rue Preston Street, Pub Italia, garde sa taille actuelle; et

2. charge le personnel d’examiner le plan conceptuel original de réfection de la rue Preston, afin de s’assurer que la conception d’origine a été respectée quant aux normes sur l’éclairage et la plantation d’arbres. En cas de différence entre les deux, que le personnel apporte les corrections nécessaires et rende compte au Comité des transports par voie de note de service.

DOCUMENTATION

1. Transportation Committee report dated 21 December 2011 (ACS2011-CMR-TRC-0001)

2. Extract of draft Minute, Transportation Committee meeting of 1 February 2012.

Report to/Rapport au :

Transportation Committee

Comité des transports

and Council / et au Conseil

21 December 2011 / le 21 décembre 2011

Submitted by/Soumis par : Councillor/Conseillère Diane Holmes,

Somerset (ward 14)

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Councillor / Conseillère Diane Holmes,

diane.holmes@ottawa.ca; (613) 580-2484

Somerset (14)

Ref N°: ACS2012-CMR-TRC-0001

SUBJECT:	434 ½ PRESTON STreet - GRANDFATHERING OF PATIO

OBJET :	Clause de droit acquis de la terrasse du 434 ½, rue PRESTON

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That Transportation Committee recommend Council waive the minimum sidewalk width required by the Encroachment By-law and recommend to Council that the patio at 434 1/2 Preston Street, Pub Italia, be permitted to remain at the existing size.

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité des transports recommande que le Conseil renonce aux exigences liées à la largeur minimale des trottoirs requises par le Règlement sur les empiètements et recommande au Conseil de permettre que la terrasse du 434 1/2, rue Preston Street, Pub Italia, garde sa taille actuelle.

BACKGROUND

The patio at Pub Italia has been in existence since 2000 when the owner of Pub Italia partnered with the City to pilot a patio on a bulb-out. At the time, the owner paid half of the costs for the bulb-out to be constructed on the City right-of-way. It was this sidewalk design which would eventually guide the design of the commercial area of Preston Street when it was reconstructed approximately a decade later.

When Preston Street was under reconstruction, the design was undertaken with the owner’s and Councillor's understanding that there would be sufficient width to allow the existing patio to remain. The minimum sidewalk width required by our Encroachment By-law is that any patio on the City owned Right of Way provides for an unencumbered sidewalk width of 1.8 m. Staff does not have the delegated authority to waive the minimum patio width provision in the by-law.

While there is ample sidewalk space, the placement of the trees, art and street lighting poles have been positioned away from the curbline, restricting at points the available sidewalk space between the patio edge and the street furnishings where the width is less than 1.8 meters.

The patio is seasonal-only, and is dismantled between October 1 to April 15 to allow for maintenance. There will be no wintering-over permitted at this location.

DISCUSSION

The Ward Councillor has no concerns regarding the sidewalk width given the ample spaces between, and on both sides, of the art, trees and light poles which allows pedestrians to easily flow. Additionally, the patio is removed for the winter to allow for maintenance which restores the available pedestrian space to the full 4.9 m between the building face and roadway.

The depth of the patio is 2.56 m as the owner notes it has been since its inception in 2000. Since the roadway reconstruction and subsequent installation of street furnishings, this allows for the following dimensions between the sidewalk and the nearest obstructions: 1.22 m to the tree guard, 1.35 m to the bollard, and 1.4 m to the City of Ottawa decorative light and statue.

Recognizing that 1.22 meters is too narrow for street sweeping equipment to pass, the owner of the establishment commits to continuing to maintain the City-owned ROW as he has done for many years on an as-needed basis.

In addition to the sidewalk to the west of the street furnishings, there exists 1.22 m of clear sidewalk space between the street furnishings and roadway curb, with the exception of the space adjacent to the artwork which is 1.1 m.

Since the tree guards and lighting fixtures are spotted along the street there exist multiple opportunities to move between them to use the full width of 2.95 m should pedestrians wish.

The two benches originally planned for this location have been removed to aid with pedestrian flow. It is possible to remove the existing bike racks to further increase opportunities for pedestrian flow. The current configuration has been in place since the road was reconstructed in 2010 without complaint from residents.

The patio is at-grade with moveable chairs and tables. It is accessible to customers using mobility devices.

The patio at Pub Italia is the only one proposed to be grandfathered and allowing for the decreased sidewalk width. This is due to its long history on the street and active involvement in piloting the very successful patio project. The Preston Street Business Improvement Association understands and supports the decision to not allow other patios to encroach onto the ROW in a similar manner.

Departmental comments

Planning and Growth Management

The City of Ottawa Encroachment By-law (No. 2003- 446) stipulates a minimum unencumbered sidewalk width of 2.4 metres for sidewalks abutting a patio. While, minimum 1.8 m widths are currently accommodated, given this is the City’s minimum standard for new sidewalks, the acceptance of the proposed 1.22 m to 1.4 m widths would further deteriorate the by-law standard and set a negative precedent.

Further, as the existing patio is removed and reinstalled yearly, and being one of the largest patios installed on City Road Allowance, there is no technical reason the patio may not be slightly reduced and re-established in a configuration that would provide the required 1.8 m unencumbered sidewalk width and still provide more than sufficient patio space.

Public Works

The Public Works Department requires a minimum of 1.8 m of unencumbered sidewalk to successfully operate the sidewalk sweeping maintenance program therefore, the acceptance of the 1.22 m width to accommodate this proposal will impact the Department’s ability to maintain the standards identified in the Council approved Maintenance Quality Standards. As such, the Department cannot support the report recommendation as it would set a negative precedent.

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no rural implications.

CONSULTATION

The Preston St. Business Improvement Association is in favour of the recommendations of the report. The Dalhousie Community Association has been made aware of this report.

Notice of this meeting was advertised on the City’s website as per Section 77(1)(b) of the Procedure By-law.

COMMENTS BY THE WARD COUNCILLOR(S)

Councillor Holmes is in favour of the report recommendations.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS

The Encroachment By-law (No. 2003- 446) requirement for minimum sidewalk width is 1.80 metres and the current design of the patio does not meet the requirement as the sidewalk only has a width of 1.22 m. The owner may decrease the width of the patio by 0.58 m to conform to the By-law requirement. In the alternative, he may seek specific Council approval to waive this requirement of the By-law.

RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

There are risk implications. These risks have been identified and explained in the Departmental comment section of this report.

CITY STRATEGIC PLAN

There are no ties to the City Council approved Draft term of council priorities.

TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no direct technical implications associated with this report.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no direct financial implications.

ACCESSIBILITY IMPLICATIONS

The sidewalk allowances have been reviewed under a number of documents. While a width of 1.5 m is the minimum standard, the current Accessibility Design Guidelines reports for both the City of Toronto and the City of London allow for lowered minimum sidewalk widths at points at which there are street furnishings. The existing sidewalk width meets or exceeds the minimum required widths of between 915 mm (0.915 m) and 1220 mm (1.22 m) identified in these reports.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 Photos of the site during the summer.

Document 2 Design of the patio submitted by the owner of the establishment.

Document 3 City of Toronto Accessibility Design Guidelines (pages 42, 45) http://www.toronto.ca/parks/pdf/engagement/accessibility_guidelines.pdf (previously distributed and held on file with the City Clerk)

Document 4 City of London Facility Accessibility Design Standards (pages 13, 14, 64) http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Accessibility/accessibilitystandards.htm (previously distributed and held on file with the City Clerk)

DISPOSITION

Planning and Growth Management staff to implement the direction of Committee and Council.

City Clerk’s staff will notify the owner of Pub Italia of Council’s decision.

Document 1

Photos of the site during the summer

Document 2

Design of the patio submitted by the owner of the establishment