Bedford beer garden on hold due to lack of parking

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After several months of construction and a single weekend of slinging pints, a new beer garden along the Bedford Highway has had to shut off its taps indefinitely after failing to meet permit requirements.
Tony Makhoul, co-owner of the Bedford Beer Garden, said the business obtained a special occasion licence for its opening this past weekend, which he described as a success.
But a Halifax Regional Municipality bylaw states the beer garden — located in a largely empty gravel lot along the highway — doesn't have enough parking for the number of seats at the location to continue to operate.
"It's been a process," said Makhoul. "Over four weeks, I'd say, we've been going back and forth with the city, reconfiguring the site plan to accommodate more parking spaces or enough parking spaces to accommodate the seating."
He said according to HRM standards, only about five parking spaces can be created around the 80-seat beer garden, well shy of the required 20 spots.
It was Makhoul's understanding that certain building permits were only needed if the business was permanent in a space, which the beer garden is not, he said.
Initial visits from municipal staff back in March first brought up concerns about a site survey and property lines. He added it was only in the last six weeks or so, after several site changes, that staff flagged parking as an issue.
He estimates that around 90 per cent of the people who attended the opening weekend took alternative means of transportation, including walking and public transit, and he's not sure why the city is pressing the parking issue.
Makhoul took to social media Wednesday in response to the latest rejection to ask that residents reach out to the local councillor to voice their support for the business.
Councillor response
Jean St-Amand, the councillor for Bedford-Wentworth, told reporters Thursday that he's received a number of messages since Makhoul's call to action asking what the Bedford Beer Garden can do to continue operating.
"I had a nice meeting with [the owners] myself just to better understand what their setup was and what they were looking to be to the community," St-Amand said.
The councillor's understanding is that the problem is with the proportion of parking spaces relative to the square footage the beer garden occupies, he said, and that there's not enough of an entry and exit point for people who have parked their vehicles.
St-Amand said his hands are tied. The solution will likely come with reducing the square footage of the beer garden, he said.
"It's a delicate balance because they'd be giving up space in order to make room for parking spaces," St-Amand added.
Municipal response
In an email, HRM spokesperson Brynn Budden said it's up to the business owner to show a beer garden meets requirements, including providing off-street parking in accordance with the land-use bylaw.
Makhoul said the business has has asked about using a parking lot across the street after office hours and on the weekend. He said the parking bylaw states that offsite parking, along with street parking and proximity to transit stops, can be used to decrease the number of onsite parking spots needed for a business.

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