The City of Toronto, at the direction of City Council, requested and has now received a new Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) from the Province of Ontario that will help ease zoning restrictions on outdoor patios while allowing for expanded patios on private property, including parking areas.
As part of Toronto’s CaféTO program, which expands sidewalk patios and flankages (additional frontage when a business is on a corner lot) and allows for installation of curb lane patios, Council requested that staff submit an appeal to the province for an MZO specific to Toronto to quickly allow for modest increases to the maximum size of outdoor patios, remove restrictions that could prevent an outdoor patio located in front of buildings, and provide particular consideration for non-residential properties with dedicated surface parking in front of the building (subject to necessary parking requirements).
