REVscene Automotive Forum - Vancouver discusses liquor-law changes

After more than six years of not allowing any new restaurants in Vancouver to serve alcohol after midnight, city staff are recommending that liquor be served until 1 a.m. across the city.

“Staff recommends that council adopt a policy that allows licensed restaurants to receive a moderate extension of hours of service to 1 a.m. seven days a week throughout the city," said Lily Ford, city policy analyst for the licence office, in a staff report that goes to council members at the standing committee on planning and environment Thursday.

“This recommendation represents a middle ground between demand for later restaurant liquor service and concerns regarding noise and disturbance.”

A half-hour period would be allowed for patrons to finish their drinks by 1:30 a.m. Under a controversial city bylaw, restaurants, cafe-lounges and bar and grills in Vancouver must stop serving liquor at midnight if they were licensed after December 2002.

“Since 2003, applicants for new food primary licences have been kept to a midnight closing time as council has withheld support for any applications requesting hours of liquor service past midnight, pending development of an hours of liquor service policy,” said Ford.

The policy was highly-criticized by restaurateurs and patrons alike as “archaic” and adding to Vancouver’s reputation as No Fun City. An online Facebook protest group called “Stop Vancouver’s Bedtime Police!” was started last March in response to the city maintaining its midnight closing and restrictions on live music.

Restaurants that are currently licensed to serve liquor past 1 a.m. — only 13 per cent of licensed restaurants in the city have a 2 a.m. closing time any day of the week — will be allowed to maintain their existing hours of service. The report notes that the food primary and liquor primary categeories “are unique to B.C.” and that most jurisdictions in the world have far more liberal drinking regulations than Vancouver.

“Most municipalities in Canada and the U.S. have a 2 a.m. closing time for all on-premises liquor establishments, although some major cities, including Chicago, New York City and Montreal have later closing times [between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.] and New Orleans alllows 24-hour service,” said Ford. “Hours of service in Europe, Australia and New Zealand in general allow more liberal late-night hours.”

Ford said people were “overwhelmingly in support of later hours than provided in the city’s initial draft policy [last June] and against the sub-area system of varying closing times.”

“The food primary industry and some members of the public are eager to see a policy that allows for later hours of service,” said the report.

Restaurants licensed before December 2002 were allowed to maintain their licensed hours of service under a grandfather clause to 1 or 2 a.m.

“Despite the increasing similarities between licensed restaurants and bars, food primary and liquor primary establishment remain subject to different regulatory requirements,” said the report.

Under provincial law enacted in December 2002, restaurants are allowed to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. “with a new requirement” that food primary liquor license applications beyond midnight require a civic government resolution supporting the application. The city reacted by imposing a midnight closing time on all new food-primary establishments.

“Shortly after the new provincial regulations took effect, the city suspended action on all applications from licensed restaurants requesting closing times later than midnight, pending development of an hours of liquor service policy,” Ford’s report said. “As a result, all restaurant licensed since 2003 must stop liquor service at or before midnight.

"In contrast many restaurants licensed prior to [2003] serve liquor past midnight, and in some cases as late as 2 a.m.”

The report notes that on Oct. 6, 2005 council allowed amplified music in Class 1 restaurants, but banned live music between the hours of midnight and 9 a.m. even though some establishments had live music to 1 a.m. or later for many years. The midnight ban on live music, which has been widely criticized by musicians and patrons, was noted in the report, but not addressed.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/story.html?id=1303608