Vancouver City Council has approved a series of termporary bylaw changes designed to make the city more hospitable to tourists during the 2010 Olympic Games.

The changes include:

  • Temporarily increasing the number of taxi and limousine licenses.
  • Extending restaurant patio hours and restaurant seating capacity.
  • Requiring the timely removal of graffiti on construction-site fencing and other sites.
  • Prohibiting weapons and alcohol at the city's live entertainment sites.
  • Allowing trucks to make deliveries 24 hours a day in the downtown area.
  • Adjusting the start time for garbage pick up each day.

The bylaw changes take effect Jan. 1, 2010 and will expire at the end of March. However, city staff will monitor the bylaw changes to see if any might benefit the city in the long term.

Ian Tostenson, president of the B.C. Restaurant Association, recently told CTV News that he would favour implementing some of the changes permanently.

"As we develop into more of an international city -- if you look at places like Rome -- it's quite common for people to be in a restaurant 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning," he said.