Plateau restaurant Khyber Pass tears down part of facade after decade-long dispute
Wooden exterior was put up 10 years ago without the owners obtaining a city permit
An Afghan restaurant in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood has dismantled part of its wooden facade after a long battle with the borough in an effort to keep its unique exterior.
The restaurant was ordered to take down the facade by the end of November.
Open since the 1990s, the restaurant has had its wooden exterior for 10 years. It was constructed without obtaining a permit.
After their latest proposal was rejected by the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough's urban planning committee, the restaurant's owners took down the lower part of the facade.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, they thanked the public for their support and said they would be submitting a new proposal to the borough.
Faruk Ramisch, who owns the building and the restaurant, told CBC News in October that he estimated it would cost him $100,000 to remove the entire facade and rebuild it to conform to the borough's norms.
"What doesn't fit on the street?" he said at the time "This is the jewel of Duluth."