One of Thornbury’s most popular watering holes will soon be expanding its outdoor seating.
“Because of social distancing, our already compact patio was cut in half from eight tables to four, and that allows us to seat 20 dinners,” said Randall Litchfield, owner and operator of the Corner Cafe and Grill in Thornbury. “We are not a viable business at 20 dinners.”
Litchfield presented a plea earlier this week to the Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) council, asking for assistance in expanding its outdoor seating in order to accommodate more guests with proper social distancing measures.
Litchfield explained that the Cafe has been dramatically impacted by the COVID pandemic and allowing for the patio expansion would help to recover some lost revenue.
“Our revenues were cut by about 90 per cent with about 48-hours notice,” Litchfield said. “Going into COVID we had 20 employees. We had to cut it down to two.”
He added the Corner Cafe and Grill has historically been quite profitable, however, the pandemic closure has caused a strain.
“I am fearing that if we can’t do some kind of expansion, we won’t have anything to sustain ourselves through the fall and the business may have to close. At least until this nightmare is over,” he said.
Litchfeild added that he began the process of planning and applying for the patio expansion back in May, and has the approval of the Grey Bruce Health Unit.
On Monday, council members agreed to fast track the process and pushed through a motion to allow town staff to work with Litchfield in acquiring the proper credentials for the site.
“I would support the proposal,” said Alar Soever, mayor of the TBM. “This is a lot of employment in our community and people are having a hardship here. This is only for the period during which there is no indoor service allowed and I think it is an emergency issue, so I would say we give staff direction to go ahead.”
Council members add that the Corner Cafe and Grill is a vital part of Thornbury’s downtown core.
“I think it will add a lot to the town and people will stay longer if there is a place to stop and eat.” Soever said.
TBM staff say expanding the outdoor patio will require a few provisions.
“A few things that we would be looking for is providing the town with appropriate insurance information,” said TBM CAO Shawn Everitt. “The other piece to this is our municipal alcohol risk management policy does not include Hester Street Parkette. For this to be an area that would be serving alcohol, council would have to provide really clear approval for the sale and consumption in this section of town property.”
Council gave staff the go-ahead to proceed authorizing the use of municipal lands, being three parking spaces in the Hester Street parking lot, to the Corner Cafe and Grill through a municipal land use agreement that is subject to receiving insurance with the town as the named insured, for the period of that no indoor seating is allowed due to the COVID pandemic.
Soever points to the town hall and post office parking lots as alternative parking spaces for the public.
Town staff have also asked that the site plan agreement has the ability to be reviewed on a monthly basis.
“I am very appreciative of the council's attention and the urgency you are recognizing here,” added Litchfield.
