Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

1108 Pacific Boulevard

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

There is no explicit Council policy directly applicable to government liquor stores. However, when Council initiated by-law amendments in 1981 to create "Liquor Store" as a conditional approval use to distinguish from the use "Retail Store", it was clearly indicated that this would allow Council an opportunity to evaluate each new proposed location.

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This report seeks any advice Council may wish to offer concerning a development application to change the use of a portion of the ground floor from retail to provide a government liquor store in this existing retail/restaurant/office/financial institution/residential building on this site.

As part of the review of this development application, a neighbourhood notification was carried out. Thirteen letters were received in response to the notification, of which nine were in opposition and four were in favour. The concerns were: potential increase of undesirable and unsafe individuals; potential increase of loitering, panhandlers, buskers; impact on the residents of 198 Aquarius Mews as their lobby entrance is located directly adjacent to the liquor store entrance; liquor sold at Urban Fare is sufficient for neighbourhood as a "standard" liquor store is not in keeping with Yaletown/Concord Pacific community; neighbourhood and children in the Community Centre and daycare would suffer; and increase of garbage.

In addition, the Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) held an open house for two evenings and reported that 20 visitors attended, however, only 12 completed a survey. All 12 respondents were in favour.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) recognizes the problems which may arise from this LDB development application, which include begging, panhandling, street vendor and street performers. The added complication is that the liquor store entrance is directly adjacent to the entrance of a residential building (198 Aquarius Mews). The VPD does not oppose this application, but strongly recommends conditions which adequately address the potential conflict between residents, patrons and panhandlers.

The Director of Planing does not believe a liquor store at this particular location will have an adverse effect on the neighbourhood. However, given the residents' concerns, the Director of Planning is prepared to approve this application subject to conditions that address the potential conflict between residents, patrons and panhandlers. In addition, a time-limited approval will also allow staff to monitor the effects of the LDBs efforts in implementing measures to resolve the identified conflicts. Before making a decision, the Director of Planning is first seeking any advice which Council may wish to provide.

SITE DESCRIPTION AND CONTEXT

The proposed liquor store is located on the east side of Pacific Boulevard between Davie and Nelson Streets and is within a Comprehensive Development District (CD-1 By-law Number 7248). (See Appendix 'A' attached.)

Staff carried out a land use survey of the surrounding area, similar to that which would be done for a licensed liquor outlet, as covered by Council policy. The survey area contains primarily residential uses. A number of buildings in the area contain commercial uses at the street level with residential units above. The Roundhouse Community Centre is locatedacross Davie Street to the south. Also, within the survey area, there is a brew pub and a cabaret.

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

The current development application seeks to change the use of approximately 208 m² (2,241 square feet) of the ground floor from retail to provide a liquor store.

The applicant, B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch, advises that this is a new retail plan aimed at better serving the needs of their customers and providing an interesting and unique shopping experience. As part of their plan, they are developing small, focused boutique style stores to augment their existing stores in high-density areas of Vancouver. This retail plan is similar to the approach many large food store chains have employed recently-having smaller stores in urbanized areas such as Urban Fare in Yaletown where people can walk and shop as opposed to destination stores in suburban areas where people must drive to shop.

The LDB has identified the subject site to be a suitable location. Yaletown is Vancouver's hottest urban neighbourhood development with an anticipated population of 17,000. The new liquor store will complement the existing retail commercial that include a food store, bank, video store and restaurants.

The proposed liquor store has been assessed against and complies with the provisions of the CD-1 By-law.

NOTIFICATION

As part of the review of this development application, 1,173 neighbouring property owners were notified of the proposal. The Director of Planning received ten individual letters from within the notification area, of which seven were in opposition and three were in favour. The notification area is included in the attached Appendix 'A' map.

A summary of the neighbourhood objections is as follows:

1. potential increase of undesirable and unsafe individuals;
2. potential increase of loitering, panhandlers, buskers, crime, drugs and prostitution;
3. liquor store entrance is located adjacent to the main entrance to 198 Aquarius Mews where residents would have to walk by the potential panhandlers;
4. liquor sold at Urban Fare is sufficient for neighbourhood and is better served by having alcoholic beverages available in a store such as Urban Fare. A "standard" liquor store would not be in keeping with the general feeling and atmosphere of Yaletown/Concord Pacific community;
5. neighbourhood and children in the Community Centre and daycare would suffer; and
6. increase of garbage.

The Liquor Distribution Branch held a public open house on April 11 and 12, 2000 at the Roundhouse Community Centre to provide information to the surrounding residents and to receive any input the residents may have. Unfortunately, some residents were inadvertently missed in the LDB's notification of the open house. These include residents of 1111, 1199 and 1201 Marinaside Crescent, 189 Davie Street, and 198 Aquarius Mews. The residents at 198 Aquarius Mews would be most affected as their entrance is adjacent to the entrance of the liquor store. The LDB sent separate notices to these residents to advise that although they missed the open house, the LDB would be available to answer any questions they may have. As a result of this, the Planning Department extended the notification time frame by an additional two weeks to allow for these residents to respond.

The LDB reports that approximately 20 visitors came to the open house over both evenings. Twelve of these people completed a survey. Each of the respondents resides in Yaletown, five of whom are homeowners. All 12 respondents are very much in favour of the new liquor store and believe a small specialized liquor store will be a positive addition to the neighbourhood's customer service amenities. (See Appendix 'B' attached.)

In response to the "extended" notification, three letters were received, two in opposition and one in favour. The main concern is that a liquor store inevitably attracts panhandlers and as the entrance to the liquor store is located directly adjacent to the main entrance of 198 Aquarius Mews, these residents, who would be most affected, would have to pass by the panhandlers to enter their building.

POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMENTS

The Vancouver Police Department recognizes the problems which may arise from this proposed use. Panhandling in front of liquor store outlets is somewhat of a given social occurrence in Vancouver. The large number of patrons coming and going from a liquor store make them, from the point of view of the panhandler, very lucrative locations to beg. Vancouverites are generous donators, and being confronted at a liquor store causes an added amount of guilt which works toward both increasing the monies given and the number of people who actually contribute. The staff at most LDBs do not discourage panhandling until patrons complain. Panhandlers are either asked to leave and/or the police are called to deal with the problem. This will temporarily solve the problem, until the next day, or in many cases until another panhandler takes over the spot the same day.

The proposed liquor store has the added complication of being directly adjacent to a residential tower lobby where the main entrance door for the residential building is directlybeside the liquor store entrance. There is no other location available for either entrance ways. Panhandling at this branch will undoubtedly cause more problems for residents in the tower than with the patrons to the liquor store. Design options aimed at discouraging panhandling are rarely successful for liquor stores. The amount of money "scored" from a few hours of begging in front of a liquor store, far outweigh any inconveniences which may be incurred from entranceway design. Moreover, little can be done design wise without impeding customer traffic or contravening engineering and fire regulations.

It is recommended that a good neighbour agreement include a zero tolerance level adopted by the LDB and its staff to any type of begging, panhandling, street vendor and street performers which would in anyway, inconvenience customers and residents within the 100 block of Davie Street. Preventing this type of activity before it starts will be an important mitigating factor. Consideration may be given to limiting operating hours to 9:00 p.m. Once panhandling is allowed, reactive measures will be costly and in many cases ineffective.

The Vancouver Police Department, does not oppose this application, but strongly recommends conditions which adequately address the potential conflict between residents, patrons and panhandlers.

CONCLUSION

The proposed development meets the technical requirements of the CD-1 By-law. In response to the neighbourhood notification, there were nine neighbourhood objections received, however, Planning staff do not believe a liquor store at this particular location will have an adverse effect on the neighbourhood. Further, the Police Department does not oppose this proposal but strongly recommends conditions which adequately address the potential conflict between residents, patrons and panhandlers. The Director of Planning is, therefore, prepared to approve this development application for a period of one year, subject to conditions that address the potential conflict between residents, patrons and panhandlers. However, before making a decision, the Director of Planning is first seeking any advice which Council may wish to provide.

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