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Doors closed on patio issue, says EB

31 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
"Councillors closed the door on the patio issue, Wednesday, allowing downtown businesses another couple of weeks with temporary fencing for curbside patios." Enterprise-Bulletin, July 30, 2010.

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the special...

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Tags: Toronto, Collingwood Municipal Madness, downtown, patios, buskers 8 Comments


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Music, music everywhere

27 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood life, downtown-BIA, Music and ukuleles
Last week we had the chance to enjoy two really different types of music. Wednesday we went to the Station (aka the museum) for the weekly Jazz at the Station event. We watched Bobby Dean Blackburn, a great R&B and jazz pianist/vocalist with a drummer and two sax players. Free event, and well-attended, although Frank McNulty told me the crowd...

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Tags: Collingwood, jazz, Elvis, music 0 Comments


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Street art and patios, Orillia-style

26 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
We took a road trip, Saturday, to Minden, and stopped off in Orillia on the way. Orillia was having a big downtown street festival - about six blocks of the main street closed off, with some side streets closed as well. Full of people, merchants, buskers, visitors. And here's what we...

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Tags: Orillia, council, patios, downtown, buskers, Collingwood's Municipal Madness 3 Comments


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Get Over It

24 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood's municipal m..., downtown-BIA, Election 2010, Pointless legislation
[color="#000000"][color="#000000"][size="2" ]Get over it. That's what Councillor Labelle wrote to me in an email when I recently suggested council might allow patios to open beside the buildings for the Elvis Festival, to let the restaurants capitalize on the crush of visitors this...

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Tags: Collingwood Municipal Madness, patios, downtown, council 7 Comments


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Another hiccup on the patio front

23 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...
Oops. This week council was asked to respond to an email that identified a few significant snags in our new licensing bylaw that affect numerous downtown restaurants and merchants just as they start to set up for the annual Elvis Festival. Seems we had a few more hiccups with out new licensing...

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Tags: council, bylaws, patios, Collingwood's Municipal Madness, licensing 4 Comments


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Desperation or genuine concern for the downtown?

20 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...
I had to wonder whether some of council's sudden outpouring of concern for the extra costs borne by retaillers and restaurateurs over the new licence fees was really a genuine turn-around show of empathy for them, or just electioneering in face of growing public dissatisfaction over this...

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Tags: BIA, licensing fees, downtown, Collingwood Municipal Madness, council, patios 6 Comments


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Patio liquor licences - 30-day wait - not for Elvis?

17 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood's municipal m..., downtown-BIA, Election 2010, Pointless legislation
I was more than a little surprised on Monday to hear Councillor Jeffrey comment that, if restaurant owners put their application in right away, they were very likely to get liquor licences from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission (AGCO) in time for the Elvis Festival, next weekend. Assuming, that is, they wanted to move, or could afford the curbside...

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Tags: Collingwood Municipal Madness, patios, downtown, buskers, Toronto 5 Comments


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A little civil disobedience

17 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
Scoop and I enjoyed a little act of civil disobedience, Saturday morning, as we drank a hot beverage at a table on the main street sidewalk that was clearly not within either the strictly approved and restricted sidewalk patio or sidewalk café zones.
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Hasta...

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Tags: sidewalks, merchants, patios, Collingwood Municipal Madness, downtown, BIA 4 Comments


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I hate to say "I told you so," but...

13 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
Remember back in 2007 when the consultant who prepared our commercial review told us this area (our town, our neighbours and our visitors) could easily support another 500-600,000 sq. feet of commercial sprawl development on the west edge of town? And the majority of council nodded their heads in agreement like dashboard bobbin heads?

I...

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Tags: sprawl, Collingwood Municipal Madness, commercial development, malls 0 Comments


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The empty downtown

10 July 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Pointless legislation, Election 2010, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m..., Collingwood life
I was accused of taking my last pictures of an empty downtown on a weekday, when, of course, it would be quiet. So here are two photos taken Saturday, July 10, a few mintues after noon (just as the farmers' market was starting to wind down). Note the lack of patios and the lack of pedestrians - which means the lack of customers. The...

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Tags: downtown, patios, Collingwood's Municipal Madness, BIA 5 Comments



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