Submitted for your consideration:
For a few years now I’ve noticed that The Epicure Shop at 473 Parliament puts out a table and two chairs on the sidewalk in front of their store, and then labels them “For Customers Only.” This year, I see they’re now putting out two tables and four chairs, again labelled “For Customers Only.”
It seems unlikely to me that the City would issue a Patio/Boulevard Café Permit for such a narrow, high-traffic sidewalk, and given the lack of a defined, fenced-in area, I’m assuming they don’t have a permit. Now, I know they haven’t “installed” anything, but it seems to me that placing the furniture out on public property and then prohibiting its use by non-customers is basically establishing a patio without adhering to the rules that govern such things.
These links are relevant to the issue:
http://www.toronto.ca/311/knowledgebase/86/101000037786.html
http://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toro...Former Toronto Boulevard Cafe Application.pdf
What say you good people? Are they skirting the rules, or am I just being a prick?