CaféTO curb lane café installations are underway throughout the City. This year marks the first summer of CaféTO as a permanent City of Toronto program with new requirements. This week City crews began installing traffic safety equipment to safely close curb lanes and allow restaurant and bar owners and operators to open their permitted curb lane cafés. As per City Council direction, curb lanes closed beginning Monday, May 15, to provide adequate time to complete spring road maintenance and cleaning activities. Installation of traffic safety equipment will continue through June for all remaining approved CaféTO curb lane locations.
It appears as though Mirage Mediterranean Restaurant (1620 Bayview), Darna Middle Eastern Kitchen (1613 Bayview) and Buono Ristorante (1566 Bayview) are setting up CaféTO curb lane installations on Bayview this year.
City staff are conducting detailed application reviews this year as part of the transition of CaféTO from a temporary emergency response initiative into a sustainable permanent program. Safety and accessibility plans are part of the review process. A program update, approved by Council in February, requires all operators to install a temporary accessible platform that makes their curb lane space level with the sidewalk. This design solution will significantly improve the accessibility, safety and aesthetic quality of curb lane cafés. Although operators are encouraged to install their temporary accessible platform as soon as possible, a temporary ramp from the sidewalk into the café area can be used until Tuesday, August 1, after which a platform must be installed.
In addition, to curb lane cafés, the City continues to receive sidewalk café permit applications, with approximately 500 permits provided to businesses across the city. Expanded outdoor dining opportunities on private property also continue this year with Temporary Use Zoning Bylaws permitting larger outdoor patios and allowing outdoor patios in parking lots.
More details about CaféTO, including guidebooks, are available at www.toronto.ca/CafeTO.
