A city hospitality business owner said he would never have spent $150,000 on a gazebo had he known he would be ordered to remove it 18 months later.<\/p>\n
The ACT government deemed the covered dining room outside Italian restaurant Via Dolce on Garema Place “not consistent with guidelines” for the government’s upgrade of the inner-city thoroughfare.<\/p>\n
Owner Joe Pelle installed the gazebo in December 2023 to encourage year-round outdoor dining in the ACT. It has a built-in floor and a reverse air conditioner.<\/p>\n
“We need to address outdoor dining according to Canberra’s climate,” Mr Pelle said.<\/p>\n
“I want to see the city of Canberra flourish. I want to see it vibrant.”<\/p>\n
The permit for the gazebo included the requirement that the structure could be disassembled within 48 hours.<\/p>\n
However, since then, the City Renewal Authority’s 2024 Garema Place toolkit, which outlines aesthetics for the area, doesn’t support such gazebos.<\/p>\n
Instead, large umbrellas are the approved outdoor dining option for hospitality venues.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The gazebo outside Via Dolce which was pulled down in July. (Supplied: Joseph Pelle)<\/p>\n
Mr Pelle was given 48 hours to remove the structure by July 27.<\/p>\n
City Renewal Authority chief executive Craig Gillman said the gazebo was larger than the initial permit allowed.<\/p>\n
“The structure is significantly bigger than the approved permit area,” Mr Gillman said.<\/p>\n
“It exceeded, by a significant margin, the permit zone.”<\/p>\n
However, Mr Pelle said the gazebo and its size had previously been approved by the government.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Via Dolce Pasticceria in Canberra City. (ABC News: Greg Nelson)<\/p>\n
Shelter during Canberra’s seasons<\/p>\n
With construction continuing in the area, Mr Pelle supports the government’s plans to attract more visitors to the area, but is worried about limited outdoor dining options.<\/p>\n
He believes plans should allow for businesses to build enclosed dining areas to protect customers.<\/p>\n
“A gazebo is a great shelter and attraction for diners in the ACT,” Mr Pelle said.<\/p>\n
“Even on a hot day, a gazebo would really enhance and make the dining experience more comfortable.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hospitality venue owner Richard Ho support’s plans to revitalise the Canberra city centre. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)<\/p>\n
A few doors down, restaurant owner Richard Ho also supports the government’s plans to revitalise the area.<\/p>\n
He is optimistic that the new upgrades will encourage more people to visit Garema Place.<\/p>\n
“With the start of the new development, I think more people will come to Canberra city.”<\/p>\n
But he believes umbrellas may not attract diners during extreme weather.<\/p>\n
“It’s very good for other seasons like summer,” Mr Ho said.<\/p>\n
“In winter, it’s a bit too cold.”<\/p>\n
Keeping the city safe<\/p>\n
City Renewal Authority’s Mr Gillman said approvals for umbrella structures would be fast-tracked for permit approvals.<\/p>\n
But he said gazebos would not be.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
City Renewal Authority chief executive Craig Gillman says the gazebo in question was bigger than the permit allowed. (Supplied: ACT Government)<\/p>\n
“You can’t see through structures and that creates a perception that places are unsafe because you can’t see what’s coming in front of you,” Mr Gillman said.<\/p>\n
“City Renewal would not support the return of that style of structure into Garema Place for any business.<\/p>\n
“We’re not the regulator \u2026 but we do get consulted, and that would be our position.”<\/p>\n
Businesses have engaged in consultation with the government for the Garema Place development since 2023<\/p>\n
Major works are expected to be completed by the end of the year.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mr Pelle removed the gazebo, which he said had cost his business $150,000, and was hoping to gain approval for his application to install it around the corner, replacing an existing gazebo on Bunda Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A city hospitality business owner said he would never have spent $150,000 on a gazebo had he known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2666,2667,26641,26638,26639,43,44,41,39,42,40,26640],"class_list":["post-27514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-act","tag-canberra","tag-city-renewal-authority","tag-garema-place","tag-gazebo","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-via-dolce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}