Dundas Place restaurants say the patio rules cost them a summer

The city rewrote its patio encroachment rules in February, adding a fire-route clearance and a per-square-metre fee. Eleven Dundas Place operators applied. Four were approved before July.

Licensing staff say the applications arrived incomplete and that the review time — a median of 39 days — is within the service standard. Operators say the standard was written for a permit nobody needed in the summer.

The bylaw returns to committee in November for its scheduled first-year review.