VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — While the city government continues to debate whether to permit drinking in parks, a change is being recommended to council Tuesday that could result in more seats inside Vancouver bars.
The city is the only one in the province with a separate code determining how many people are allowed in ‘liquor primary establishments’ at one time.
Laura Ballance with the Hospitality Vancouver Association says this has put the city’s nighttime economy at a disadvantage, and the group has been pushing for change for decades.
“This is something we’ve been advocating for 25 years so we’re very, very pleased that this unfair stipulation will be revisited,” she explains.
“The staff report is recommending to level the playing field. What my members are saying is ‘We’re not asking for anything more, but we’d like to be on par with the rest of British Columbia.’”
Ballance estimates the change will add hundreds of seats — or stools — across the city, providing a boost to an industry hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It won’t be a huge number, but at this time for organizations that were first closed and among the last to be reopening every seat is important,” she notes.
The Vancouver-specific guidelines were introduced in the 90s “to limit the number of people inside individual liquor primary establishments so that the total number of people coming out onto the streets at closing time is reduced,” according to the staff report.
Ballance says the number of seats at businesses in the “nighttime economy” has dropped over the last decade, and competition has risen from surrounding cities without stringent limits.
The staff report notes bars along the Granville Strip or on the Downtown Eastside won’t be able to apply for more seats.
Moratoria on increasing occupancy in these areas were introduced in 2017.
“The aim of these moratoria have been to limit the social and public health harms experienced in connection with the high concentration of liquor retail and service in these areas. The moratoria were strongly supported by Vancouver Coastal Health, and by the Vancouver Police Department,” the report says.
