A debate on proposed changes to sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 liquor laws was abruptly cut off at Mondaysa国际传媒 citysa国际传媒 council meeting.听
Councillors asked several questions of staff about the rationale and implications of the overhaul. But then there was no agreement by councillors to actually discuss the matter among themselves and the issue essentially was shelved.听
It was an unusual turn of events but it reflected the reservations several councillors had about proceeding with the proposed changes, which they suggested could make downtown a somewhat less desirable place to live.听
One major concern was staffsa国际传媒 suggestion to remove a current policy that requires a separation of at least 500 metres between large nightclubs and other businesses with a liquor-primary licence. Councillors noted hundreds of new homes, most in the form of apartments and condos, have been built recently or are under construction in the downtown zone.听
A potential proliferation of nightclubs and other large-scale liquor primary establishments could generate a lot of noise and late night social problems, councillors suggested.听
鈥淚t could become a very big party district, essentially, and we鈥檇 never achieve one of the other goals, which is to attract people to live downtown, because they seem to work at odds to one another,鈥 Coun. Luke Stack said.听
鈥淥n Leon and Lawrence, we have literally hundreds of new residents moving in there now. So in my mind, this current policy we have with a separation of 500 metres is probably going to be more important than ever,鈥 Stack said.听
Coun. Maxine DeHart said people who want to live downtown usually understand its 鈥渧ibrancy鈥, but she also expressed concern about the possible negative impact of many more businesses with a liquor-primary licence opening up in the area.听
The 500-metre separation policy has had the intended effect over the past 20 or so years, DeHart said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e done a really good job of attracting residential because we have tempered what is happening in our downtown area, and we鈥檙e not making it a free-for-all like in Vancouver,鈥 she said.听
Coun. Charlie Hodge said of the 500-metre separation rule, which he had originally opposed but latterly come to support seeing its results, said: 鈥淚f itsa国际传媒 not broke, don鈥檛 fix it. I鈥檓 not convinced we need to rush off and make major changes right now.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 comfortable where things are at. Maybe in the future we鈥檒l have to have another look at it, but for now, I鈥檓 happy with the way we are going,鈥 Coun. Mohini Singh said.听
Staff had suggested eliminating the 500-metre separation rule was supportable because the nature of downtown had evolved in the past decade, with small-scale liquor primary venues much more commonplace than they used to be. There are a number of breweries, distilleries, and wineries downtown, and there has been a long-term trend away from big nightclubs, staff noted.听
Nevertheless, one other aspect of the staff report suggested removing the 500-person cap on nightclub capacity, so long as the venue closed by midnight.听
Mayor Tom Dyas was the only council member who expressed support for the proposed overhaul of the citysa国际传媒 liquor licensing rules and regulations. 鈥淲e are in an area which is tourism, tourism-oriented, and a lot of our economy depends on hospitality, so it is important that this be looked at. Itsa国际传媒 a big economic driver for our community,鈥 Dyas said.听
Itsa国际传媒 expected staff will take councilsa国际传媒 feedback and return at a future date with a revised report. 鈥淚 look forward to this coming back and being in front of us again,鈥 Dyas said.听
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