Mahone Bay council has voted to immediately strengthen its sidewalk patio regulations following public concern over accessibility — and a recent fall involving a well-known senior in the community.
Mayor Suzanne Lohnes-Croft says the issue began after a local business constructed a sidewalk patio using a bylaw that dates back to 2008. “Many people didn’t know, including members of council, that there was a bylaw for decks and sidewalks, which included sidewalk decks or patios,” she said. “It’s been on the books since 2008.”
The patio followed the rules in place, but the town received multiple complaints about its impact on accessibility. “We have narrow streets in Mahone Bay. We have a lot of seniors. We have people with disabilities who had opinions and experiences with navigating the deck,” Lohnes-Croft said.
On June 27, 100-year-old Barbara Minard fell while trying to walk the deck area using a mobility device. She was injured and passed away days later. No formal link has been confirmed between the fall and her passing, but the timing intensified community concerns.
“People were upset even before, during the construction phase. People were upset after the fall, and it just increased after the passing of a well-known citizen,” Lohnes-Croft said.
Council was asked to revoke the patio permit, but under the current bylaw, that power rests with staff — not elected officials — and only if something illegal or dangerous is identified. “Council does not have that authority… it has to be revoked by a staff person,” she said.
Instead, council took two actions during a special meeting. First, it voted to apply the April 1, 2026 provincial accessibility standards to all future sidewalk patio applications, effective immediately. “It would not be retroactive, but it would be effective immediately,” Lohnes-Croft said. “So going forward, if somebody wanted to build a deck, they would have to comply to the April 1, 2026, accessibility standards.”
Second, council voted to write to the current business owner, asking whether they would consider voluntarily upgrading the existing deck to meet the new standards. “We are not telling her she has to do it. We are just asking,” Lohnes-Croft explained.
She said newer mobility devices, strollers and wagons are often wider and taller than before, and that the current deck allows only one-way traffic. “There’s some mobile devices that cannot travel on the walkway that has been built,” she said.
The letter requesting the change is expected to be sent out sometime next week.
