A North End brewery has received city council’s support to move forward with their application to make their COVID-era temporary patio a permanent fixture.
During the October public hearing, Kelowna city councillors supported Kettle River Brewing’s application to increase capacity at their brewery on Baille Avenue.
An application submitted in August said the goal is to keep their temporary patio area, which was introduced through the Temporary Expand Service Area program introduced in 2020.
“The applicant is seeking to operate annually between the months of May to September,” staff told council.
Making the patio permanent will increase Kettle River Brewing’s capacity from 109 people to 135 people.
Staff explained that the current hours of operation (10 am to midnight, seven days a week) would remain the same.
City staff recommended support because the proposal falls in line with the council’s liquor licencing policy, there are no concerns from the RCMP and there is no expectation of any disturbance to neighbouring properties.
“It’s pretty straight ahead. We’re not looking for anything special. It was something that was put in four years ago and we just want to keep it,” said a representative for the brewery.
“It’s a big advantage for us as a small business when the weather’s good to get guests out in the Okanagan sunshine and we haven’t had any concerns or any issues from neighbours and don’t expect any moving forward.”
No members from the public spoke against this application.
The proposal was supported unanimously by Kelowna council.
Now that city council has shown their support, the application will be forwarded to the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) for final approval.