Tasty Thai owner Garnet Greipl wants to set up an outdoor patio in front of his restaurant – hopefully this spring -- which would be licensed, so that customers could enjoy a glass of wine while sitting out on the sidewalk in the sun.
The Uptowne Olds Committee supports that idea.
Unfortunately, at the moment, there's no sidewalk café bylaw that would allow that.
Olds chief operating officer Doug Wagstaff says town planners are working on one.
“We are working on a sidewalk café bylaw and so we're still in the earlier stages of getting that done,” he said.
The committee passed a motion supporting Greipl's idea and urging the town to create a sidewalk café bylaw as soon as possible – this summer, if not earlier.
During the Uptowne Committee meeting, Greipl said his sidewalk café would be bordered by a removable railing.
Wagstaff suggested Greipl discuss the idea with town development officer Carey Keleman.
“I talked to Carey and she just totally turned me down. The liability of it, she said. And my liability -- my insurance will cover everything,” Greipl said, adding he approached her about a month ago.
Wagstaff suggested he, Greipl and Keleman get together to work on such a bylaw. He said Greipl's initial visit to Keleman probably spurred current work on the bylaw.
Wagstaff said the goal would be to create it by “April-ish,” however, he conceded that might be a “tight timeline,” because public input would be needed.
“All the other cities are doing this now and we need to attract them (sidewalk café patrons),” Greipl said.
Uptowne Committee members agreed and said they love Greipl's idea.
“Tables and chairs outside makes our Uptowne just that much more attractive,” Uptowne Committee chair Leon Durand said.
"Tables and chairs outside makes our Uptowne just that much more attractive."LEON DURANDUPTOWNE OLDS COMMITTEE CHAIR
