Sudbury city councillors are hoping to see more downtown parking spots filled with people eating and drinking this summer.

Councillors voted Monday to continue a program where bars and restaurants can temporarily extend their patios onto the sidewalk and into a parking spot.

Downtown Sudbury chair Jeff MacIntyre predicts it will help bring in more business to the city core.

"During the summer it actually takes a huge hit," he said. "Camp is our biggest competitor."

City staff suggested charging downtown bars and restaurants $13 a day to use a parking space for a patio, which amounts to about $1,500 for the whole summer.

But city councillor Robert Kirwan wondered if it should be free.

"The city saying this our way of helping to generate this new atmosphere downtown and maybe there would be more businesses to get involved," he said.

The majority of city councillors voted to charge a fee for the parking spot patios. That money would go into a reserve fund, aimed at saving money to build a downtown parking garage.

The committee decision to continue the patio program still has to receive official approval at the next city council meeting.