There may be even less parking on Huntsville’s Main Street, but the Town will gain two parking spots behind Mill on Main.
The restaurant owner, Jerry Feltis, was before Huntsville Council at a special remote meeting held on October 14, asking that the parking spaces in front and just west of his restaurant be removed and that the sidewalk be bumped out in favour of creating an outdoor patio.
While the exact number of parking spots that would be impacted was not confirmed at the meeting, it is anticipated that two or three additional parking spaces would be sacrificed in favour of the patio.
Feltis said the impact of COVID-19 restrictions have hit restaurants hard and brought to light the importance of having tables outside.
“We’re in our tenth year of operation there, one of the first to build out back, and thank goodness we had those patios this year, it was a saving grace, but we’re still at 50 per cent capacity. It really kind of brought to light how important it is to have outdoor seating and as we started to really look at the streetscape project and noticed where the bump out of the sidewalk kind of ended, right before coming in front of our restaurant, that was kind of when we started to engage relatively quickly on that to see if there was some movement there,” he told council.
He said while he realizes Main Street would lose the parking spaces in front of his business, he’s willing to sign over the two spots behind his building to the Town. He also said restaurant staff would be given a directive to park away from the main street, at the municipal parking lot beside the Huntsville Curling Club.
Feltis said a patio on Main Street would not only help his business but create a more vibrant downtown.
The Mill on Main (highlighted in yellow) have asked that the expanded sidewalk proposed in the Main Street redesign, the start of which (highlighted in green) is just west of the restaurant, be extended to the front of their building for a patio (image from the plan posted at engagemuskoka.ca, modified to include highlights)
Huntsville Councillor Bob Stone, who sits on the board of the Downtown Huntsville BIA, said he likes the idea of having sidewalk patios, much like in Europe, “but there’s concerns about giving you special considerations that other businesses don’t have. There’s also concerns about, we make this accommodation for you and your business and maybe a few years from now it’s somebody that cuts hair and isn’t a restaurant anymore. Now I know you put lots of money into the back of the building, so I do suspect it’s going to be around for a very long time.”
He asked Feltis whether he’d be able to serve alcohol across a sidewalk and whether he’d go ahead and put tables in the parking spots if his request to widen the sidewalk was not approved.
Feltis said when they purchased the establishment, which was called Roma at that time, it came with a license to serve 12 people out front. “For those of you that remember, they diverted traffic through the parking spots so that they could have that little patio out front. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen so much negative feedback off of that in my life… Dave and I bought the building, we’ve invested well over half a million dollars, probably close to three-quarters of a million dollars, in this business just in capital projects,” he said, reiterating how vital outdoor seating is to the business due to COVID-19 and associated restrictions, which he anticipated would continue to impact businesses for years to come. “We believe that every seat that we’re able to acquire outdoors is imperative to the success of our business.”
In the end, council agreed to issue a change order to remove the parking spaces and extend the sidewalk, while taking ownership of the two parking spaces behind the restaurant.
“I’m going to just remind council and urge council that this be the last change order that we entertain,” warned Councillor Brian Thompson. “We’ve given everyone on Main Street two years to come to the table on this with their suggestions and so on and so forth, and we’re now right up to the wire when the prequalified contractors and so on and so forth will be notified… Once we get into construction and we start issuing change orders…we are then at the mercy of the contractor and then it can get really, really expensive.”
“Thank you Councillor Thompson, and I couldn’t agree more with you,” responded Huntsville Mayor Karin Terziano.
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Patios/Outdoor Dining great!
One of the only ‘lifelines’ that will save our restaurants that don’t have any outdoor dining.
However, we must think ‘long term’ now.
Mill on Main already has a very large outdoor dining area upstairs.
Would it be kinder to offer ‘outdoor dining’ options to some of the many restaurants that have no outdoor dining and are barely surviving?
I understand ‘they had an opportunity to ‘comment‘ on the Streetscape Plan,
but I’m sure they never imagined they could request a cancellation of a section of the approved Plan!
Regret that public & other restaurant’s comments weren’t included in a very important decision, that might literally, see the demise of restaurants that don’t have “millions” to spend as The Mill on Main mentioned they have.
We love ALL our Eateries and hope you all survive. Thank you for helping us get through these challenging times.
Why is this establishment special? Once this pandemic is behind us (?) this ‘special’ situation will still exist I suppose. If people choose to show there wares on the sidewalk, why not! We could have T-shirts, board-games, aspirins and canoes all out on a sunny day. And there would be no need for ‘special’ places or people. Everybody is taking a hit; this is an international situation so why is this business different. Just think it would be a lot simpler if the sidewalk were level. So to speak.
Well done! It’s so great that the town does not charge for parking…as a patron I don’t mind walking from any public lot. This is definitely a downtown improvement! More patios please.
I am thrilled that The Mill is able to add a patio on Main Street. The loss of two parking spots is insignificant compared to their loss of income during Covid times. I would suggest the owners have a fact finding trip to Toronto to choose the best portable barriers which are located between the patio and traffic lanes. Thank you to the Huntsville Council for their forward thinking.
Good call by the town and the proprietors at The Mill. We need this kind of forward looking creative and vibrant planning as we emerge from the pandemic!
The town provides virtually all the parking for this business currently. The owner should be willing to close a portion of his indoor seating to offset the additional parking required for additional outside seating. Is the town willing to extend this opportunity to all businesses in Huntsville. Showing favouritism to one business during these difficult times
seems rather odd. This business has been aloud to expand their seating several times over the years without creating any additional parking spaces (how can this happen, easy welcome to Huntsville) . The town must have a cozy relationship with this establishment. The town actions sadly are not improving the parking needs of the downtown core. Keep collecting those fees in lieu of parking, I’m sure things will improve eventually.