Study of Ossington hip strip is bad news for new restaurant owners and patio lovers across Toronto
When Toronto’s most notorious fuddy-duddy, Joe Pantalone, championed last May’s ban on new licences along lower Ossington, the city agreed to examine the strip in order to better plan its future. The results of the study were released last week, and—surprise, surprise—they suggest slowing growth. Among the recommendations made in the report: an ongoing ban on backyard patios, a size limit for restaurants and a regulation that would require every restaurant to provide parking spaces.
These ideas will be incorporated into a new bylaw that will be voted on by the Toronto and East York community council on November 10. Pantalone, ever reminiscent of John Lithgow in Footloose, told BlogTO that he “would fully expect it to be approved.” If it is, the new bylaw could be applied across Toronto. (Although we should note that even Pantalone is against the ludicrous parking space idea.)
Bar owners along Ossington are not amused by the study’s findings. In the same BlogTO post, Pol Cristo-Williams, owner of Sweaty Betty’s, says that lawmakers are copying the College Street bylaws that killed the vibrancy of the neighbourhood. Cristo-Williams is convinced this move will “screw up Queen West and Ossington.”
Will any of these changes stop people from going to Ossington? Cristo-Williams thinks businesses already in existence will do fine, but he believes the changes will push new restaurants to open along Dundas and at Bloor and Lansdowne instead. As Kevin Bacon proved back in 1984, if the people want to dance, they’ll dance.
• Bar Bans, By-Laws and the End of Ossington [BlogTO]
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When Toronto’s most notorious fuddy-duddy, Joe Pantalone, championed last May’s ban on new licences along lower Ossington, the city agreed to examine the strip in order to better plan its future. The results of the study were released last week, and—surprise, surprise—they suggest slowing growth. Among the recommendations made in the report: an ongoing ban on backyard patios, a size limit for restaurants and a regulation that would require every restaurant to provide parking spaces.
These ideas will be incorporated into a new bylaw that will be voted on by the Toronto and East York community council on November 10. Pantalone, ever reminiscent of John Lithgow in Footloose, told BlogTO that he “would fully expect it to be approved.” If it is, the new bylaw could be applied across Toronto. (Although we should note that even Pantalone is against the ludicrous parking space idea.)
Bar owners along Ossington are not amused by the study’s findings. In the same BlogTO post, Pol Cristo-Williams, owner of Sweaty Betty’s, says that lawmakers are copying the College Street bylaws that killed the vibrancy of the neighbourhood. Cristo-Williams is convinced this move will “screw up Queen West and Ossington.”
Will any of these changes stop people from going to Ossington? Cristo-Williams thinks businesses already in existence will do fine, but he believes the changes will push new restaurants to open along Dundas and at Bloor and Lansdowne instead. As Kevin Bacon proved back in 1984, if the people want to dance, they’ll dance.
• Bar Bans, By-Laws and the End of Ossington [BlogTO]){kind=link}
In a more cynical world, we would wonder if Pantalone was being so obstructive just to prevent Harbord and Ossington restaurants and bars from siphoning business away from his beloved College St strip. Naw, he wouldn’t do that, would he?
…’a regulation that would require every restaurant to provide parking spaces.’
This is exactly what we DON’T need. Ossington is local and easily accessed by walking, cycling or transit. So maybe if you can’t choose one of those options you should just stay away.
Joe Panatalone should read A Fair Country by John Ralston Saul – I am pretty sure that much of what he writes about failures in Canada is about people like Pantalone – it is all about fear, and inability to manage by delegation and trusting the people. On another note, why does he get away with all this? Who are his backers? Why do protests and petitions not work in this city? We are a provincial town and let’s not forget it..
Enough bitching and complaining. What can we do? This is an outrage!
Ossington local residents may grumble about such petty concerns as “noise pollution,” “personal safety,” and “quality of life,” but they really ought to look beyond themselves towards the bigger picture: hipsters NEED their playgrounds, for if they can’t find a scene in which to discharge their pent-up irony, they will die.
So they want to cut down on backyard patios for new restaurants? Where do they propose to put these patios instead? On the already overcrowded sidewalks? Or is this just a backhanded way of getting rid of patios altogether, since many downtown sidewalks aren’t big enough to accomodate patios and pedestrians. Hmmmmm…..
I don’t understand why people choose to live in a city – and downtown in particular – and then complain about noise. There’s plenty of quiet to be found in Uxbridge or the burbs.
I’m sure all the local residents are crying in their “noisy” streets while they watch their property values rising.
I do agree that the neighbourhood doesn’t need parking, if you can walk or transit…don’t come.
Someone needs to explain to Joe Pantalone that you can’t suck and blow at the same time. A few years back, I confronted him about a proposed townhouse development that was only providing 4 visitor parking stalls for 210 units. His response: “we’re trying to encourage people to use transit”. Apparently, if you’re one of Joe’s developer buddies, you can get a free pass on providing parking spots for guests, but if you’re a competitor of one of his College Street restaurant buddies, you can’t.
Hey Joe…it’s time to go.
Another example of this city killing anything remotely fun. They are managing to kill this area before I even had a chance to check it out!
We’ve had some similar problems around West Queen West where I live. I think there are a lot of problems with the solutions being proposed on Ossginton. But I also think it’s really important that, even in dense downtown mixed-use areas, there be *some* protection for residents from noise, nuisance, and the effects that can accompany the overconcentation of an area with bars.
People who are interested in knowing about the perspective of our neighbourhood group can read about it here:
http://queenbeac.wordpress.com/bar-concentration-around-queenbeaconsfield-faq/
Up and coming to up and going….
What’s all the hub bub, bub? Ossington strip is a dump anyway!
This is utterly ludicrous. I feel much safer walking down Ossington at night than walking along a dark sketchy neighbourhood. Downtown is downtown. There will be restaurants, and that’s just that. The people who complain about every area turning into “Richmond St” are ridiculous, as the only reason Richmond went so out of control was because all BIG clubs were forced to open up in that area for awhile, not to mention there were countless warehouses there for them. Little cute restaurants and trendy bars are no threat, and yeah sure, there might be some drunken hipsters stumbling to and fro, but hipsters don’t tend to assault people, and I’ve seen numerous older, non-hipster types at these bars during the day, on back patios, responsibly and quietly enjoying a beer. If you must, perhaps ban usage of patios after 11 pm, if residents truly are THAT concerned, but other than that, a ban on new patios is awful and just making this city more and more lame.
Ban the patios at 10 pm not 11. That would be most reasonable, being kept up until 11 isn’t.
How about giving small businesses a fighting chance before implementing bans on patios/music/fun. Our summers are so short is too much to ask to sit outside on a beautiful sunny day?
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