The City of Surrey Mayor and Council voted last night to approve the waiving of fees for Surrey’s Parking to Patios program, something that the Surrey Board of Trade asked for in April 2020. The program allows restaurants to expand their operations onto privately-owned parking lots and city road right-of-ways, including sidewalks, boulevards and on-street parking.
“The Surrey Board of Trade is pleased that the City of Surrey has listened to the needs of the business community in deciding to make the program affordable and inclusive,” said Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade. “This is an industry that has been one of the hardest hit – they need solutions. Now we need to see how many restaurants will participate.”
Revisions to the Parking to Patios fees include:
o Waiver of the $200 application fee.
o Waiver of the refundable $500 security deposit for approved on-street applications.
o Continued waiver of city road & right-of-way use and traffic obstruction permit fees.
With limits to restaurant seating expected to continue, even beyond April 19 because of COVID-19 restrictions, these businesses need customized solutions given their location, limited outdoor expansion options, and parking requirements in order to survive the Spring, Summer and early Fall season. Landlords could also work with the City of Surrey and their restaurant tenants to free up space, create solutions around parking, install concrete letdowns for sidewalks where needed, signage, and so forth. Surrey needs way more than the 12 restaurants that participated in the program last year.
Our members have been waiting for the City of Surrey patio program details for some time. Now is the time to plan, apply, and consider solutions. The experience of being at restaurants is a part of making Surrey an opportunity city for the young, families seniors, and our workforce.
View more information in the Corporate Report here.
Applications can be submitted to the permitapplication@surrey.ca email box which is monitored to ensure patio and parking reconfiguration permits are prioritized.
Information on the permit application process can be found here: https://www.surrey.ca/sites/default/files/media/documents/ParkingToPatioAndSidewalkQueuingSpaceProgram.pdf.
-30-
Anita Huberman, 604-634-0342, anita@businessinsurrey.com
