ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: July 17, 2001
Author/Local: G. Gusdal/ 871-6461

RTS No. 2208

CC File No. 2614-21

P&E: August 2, 2001

TO:	Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM:	Chief License Inspector
SUBJECT:	900 Granville Street - 490811 BC Ltd. Class `C' Cabaret Liquor License

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council, having considered the support of the majority of residents and business operators of the community as determined by the previous neighbourhood notification, endorse the request by 490811 BC Ltd. for a 130-seat Class `C' Cabaret at 900 Granville Street, subject to:

i) A Time-Limited Development Permit.

ii) Holding the liquor license seating capacity to current numbers, regardless of Liquor Control and Licensing Branch provincial seating capacity increase policy.

iii) The permanent closure or relocation of the 275-seat Class `C' Cabaret liquor license located at 1055 Homer Street by February 7, 2002.

iv) The hours of operation be limited to between 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight on Sunday and 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

v) A signed Good Neighbour Agreement and the closure of the cabaret at 1055 Homer Street prior to the issuance of a business license.

vi) The applicant satisfying condition "iii" above within the specified time limit, and that failure to do so will result in staff notifying the General Manager, Liquor Control and Licensing Branch that Council no longer supports the applicant's request.

vii) No off-site sales or exotic dancing.

CONSIDERATION

B. THAT Council, having considered the support of the majority of the residents and business operators of the community as determined by the previous neighbourhood notification, endorse the request by 490811 BC Ltd. to increase the previous 130-seat Class `C' Cabaret endorsement to a 275-seat Class `C' Cabaret at 900 Granville Street, subject to:

i) A Time-Limited Development Permit.

ii) Holding the seating capacity to current numbers, regardless of any changes to the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch provincial seating capacity increase policy.

iii) The permanent closure or relocation of the 275-seat Class `C' Cabaret liquor license located at 1055 Homer Street by February 7, 2002.

iv) The relocation/termination of the applicant's request for a 65-seat with 20- seat patio Class `D' Neighbourhood Pub at this property.

v) The hours of operation be limited to between 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight on Sunday and 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

vi) A signed Good Neighbour Agreement prior to the issuance of a business license for 900 Granville Street.

vii) The applicant satisfying condition "iii" above within the specified time limit, and that failure to do so will result in staff notifying the General Manager, Liquor Control and Licensing Branch that Council no longer supports the applicant's request.

viii) No off-site sales or exotic dancing.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A but submits the choice of B for CONSIDERATION.

COUNCIL POLICY

That the 700, 800 and 900 blocks of Granville Street be designated as the Theatre Row Entertainment District; and

That allowances be made in principle for a combined total of up to 1000 Class `A' (Hotel Pub or Lounge), Class `C' (Cabaret) and Class `D' (Neighbourhood Pub) liquor licensed seats on Theatre Row; and

That only proposals for Class 'C' Cabaret liquor licenses, which result in a reduction of liquor seats in a residential area or area of significant concern be considered.

THAT Council not grant favourable consideration to future applications in the Granville Street Theatre Row Entertainment District until the current supported applications are either open and operating or withdrawn, the community and City resource impacts of the new establishments are evaluated and staff reports these findings to Council with recommendations for the Entertainment District.

PURPOSE

This report seeks Council's endorsement to confirm the relocation/closure of a cabaret to satisfy Council's previous condition for a 130-seat Class `C' Cabaret at 900 Granville Street. However, the applicant is requesting an increase to the previous Council endorsement from a 130-seat Class `C' Cabaret to a 275-seat Class `C' Cabaret located at 900 Granville Street, subject to the closure or relocation of the 275-seat cabaret at 1055 Homer Street and the relocation of the previously endorsed Class `D' Neighbourhood Pub at 900 Granville Street to different property.

BACKGROUND

On June 19, 1997, Council endorsed creating the Granville Street/Theatre Row Entertainment District and Liquor Policy for the Downtown Granville South area. Council passed, in principle, a plan allocating up to 1000 new liquor license seats to be distributed throughout the 700, 800 and 900 blocks of Granville Street. The report focussed on a policing strategy for each block, enforcement strategies, the creation of the new residential community in the Downtown South, preferences for having existing liquor license seats relocate from the surrounding residential areas to the Entertainment District and the process by which staff would screen the initial applicants for proposed establishments in the district.

On December 11, 1997, Council reviewed the results of a proposal call for applications for the Entertainment District and made minor changes to the Theatre Row Liquor Licensing Policy. Since this decision on the proposal call applications staff has received a number of other applications for the Theatre Row Entertainment District. The majority of these applications have been for sites located on the 900 block of Granville Street, with some proposals on the 800 block and no applications for the 700 block.

On December 11, 1997, Council fully endorsed some of the applications from the original proposal call and gave support-in-principle approval to four other applications (a neighbourhood pub at 800 Granville Street, cabarets at 900 and 952 Granville Street and a neighbourhood pub at 950 Granville Street). The neighbourhood pub at 800 Granville Street completed the conditions of their support-in-principle approval and obtained their full endorsement approximately one year later (1998). The cabaret at 952 Granville Street was finalized by Council in December of 2000, the neighbourhood pub at 950 Granville Street failed to satisfy the conditions of Council's approval before the cut off date and only this application remains of the three original support-in-principle approvals.

On September 14, 2000, Council amended the original endorsements to impose a time-limit for the applicant to satisfy the conditions of the endorsement, particularly the requirement to relocate seats. At that meeting Council endorsed the following amendment:

"THAT Council endorse the request from 490811 B.C. Ltd. for a 130-seat Class "C'' Cabaret at 900 Granville having considered the support of the majority of the residents and business operators of the community as determined by neighbourhood notification and subject to:

i. Time-Limited Development Permit.

ii. A signed legal Operating Agreement for a New Establishment which shall include the following provision:

a. Holding the seating capacity to current numbers, regardless of any changes to the seating capacity regulations as a result of the Provincial Liquor License Regulations Review.

iii. The permanent closure or relocation of any Hotel Class 'A' Lounge/Pub or Class 'C' Cabaret liquor licensed establishment in a residential area or area of significant concern within the City of Vancouver, subject to Council approval and a Legal Agreement to the satisfaction of the Chief License Inspector and the Director of Legal Services and that this Legal Agreement be signed within nine months from the date of Council''s resolution.

iv. The hours of operation are limited to 7:00 p.m. to Midnight on Sunday and 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. on Monday through Saturday.

v. A signed Good Neighbour Agreement prior to issuance of a business license.

vi. The applicant satisfying condition ``iii'' above within the specified time limit and that failure to do so will result in staff notifying the General Manager, Liquor Control and Licensing Branch that Council no longer supports the applicant's request.

vii. No off-site sales or exotic dancing."

In January of this year, Council endorsed two other cabaret relocations to the 900 block of Granville Street, the 220-seat Luv-A-Fair Cabaret relocation to 965 Granville Street and the 125-seat Pony's Cabaret relocation to 919 Granville Street. At that time Council approved the policy to "not grant favourable consideration to future applications in the Granville Street Theatre Row Entertainment District until the current supported applications are either open and operating or withdrawn, the community and City resource impacts of the new establishments are evaluated and staff reports these findings to Council with recommendations for the Entertainment District". Subsequent to that policy and other concerns, Council did not endorse a request to relocate two cabarets (The Rage and Yuk Yuk's) from the Plaza of Nations site to 980 Granville Street on April 26, 2001.

Please refer to Appendix A for a table indicating all final and conditional endorsements, including time limits for the Theatre Row District.

DISCUSSION

A decision can now be made on this support-in-principle endorsement for 900 Granville Street, which required an equivalent reduction in Class `A' or `C' seats from a residential or high impact neighbourhood.

The applicant has secured the purchase of the 275-seat Class `C' Cabaret license located at 1055 Homer Street in the Downtown Granville South area. Staff was notified that a deal had been reached on the final day of the applicant's nine month Council set time limit, June 14, 2001. Staff is now obliged to report this proposal to Council for a final decision.

The "Starfish Room" Class `C' Cabaret liquor license would be surrendered or transferred as determined by the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch, subject to the endorsement and issuance of the Class `C' Cabaret liquor license at 900 Granville Street which would fulfill the condition set by Council.

The proposed closure/relocation of the "Starfish Room" Cabaret at 1055 Homer Street satisfies Council's original Theatre Row seat relocation policy to relocate cabarets from the Downtown Granville South area (new Yaletown). As a result, staff supports the relocation/closure of the cabaret to satisfy the seat relocation for the new 130-seat cabaret at 900 Granville Street and feels no further discussion is necessary should the proposal for the building remain at a 65-seat neighbourhood pub and a 130-seat cabaret. However, the applicant is proposing a modification to this original proposal which will require staff analysis.

CONSIDERATION ITEM DISCUSSION

Proposed 275-Seat Cabaret

The applicant is proposing to increase the seating for the cabaret from 130 seats to 275 seats (the size of the existing cabaret at 1055 Homer Street). This increase will be offset by the applicant's request to move/relocate the 65-seat neighbourhood pub to another location on the block, i.e., Vinnie's Restaurant adjacent to the Vogue Theatre at 910 Granville Street, thus, the proposed net seat increase for the building would be 75 seats. The cabaret would be located on the second and third floors. The applicant has two possible retail tenants willing to rent the main floor of the building.

The current operators of the "Starfish Room" would continue to operate the cabaret at 900 Granville Street. The operators are proposing to cater to an older clientele and would design the facility accordingly. The cabaret would be accessed off Smythe Street. If endorsed, the operators would be anxious to start renovations and hope to be moved into the space andoperating before the end of the year. Retail tenants could likely be operational sooner. Building and trades permits for tenant improvements would likely be the only permits necessary prior to the Occupancy Permit.

The agent for the applicant advises that the proposal will likely fall apart if the applicant's proposal for the larger cabaret is not endorsed.

Benefits of the Proposal

The cabaret meets Council's original policy for seat relocation to Theatre Row and the proposed redevelopment of the existing cabaret site ensures that there will be no possibility that the existing property owner will contest the cabaret relocation. Property owners' of existing cabaret sites who contest the relocation of those liquor licenses has been a major hurdle for the relocation policy. It has not always been easy to have all the pieces of the relocation puzzle fit together.

The proposal is for a seat-for-seat transfer. That is the existing cabaret has 275 seats and the applicant's would like to operate at the same capacity in the Granville Street location. The applicant's are not requesting a capacity greater than size of the license they are transferring. Staff would prefer a net decrease in seating capacity but acknowledge that maintaining the status quo is a reasonable alternative and is sometimes necessary to ensure the continued financial viability of the business.

Although the proposed Smythe Street entrance will detract from the Granville Street focus of the Entertainment District, it should help address street impact issues, particularly around lineup control and pedestrian interaction as well as at closing time. Implementation of Council's policing strategy approved in the June 1997 Theatre Row report should help to ensure these potential benefits are realized.

Locating the cabaret on the second and third floors and retail on the ground floor will satisfy the Central Area Planning policy encouraging daytime street activity. The applicant has indicated that two prominent retailers are interested in acquiring the ground floor retail space. Staff supports this concept as it would help to maintain the daytime business and entertainment activity on Granville Street.

The original proposal for this property was for a cabaret/neighbourhood pub/restaurant complex which would have included development of the roof into a patio seating area for the pub and restaurant. Such rooftop use would have required a design that would mitigate any impacts on the Seymour Street residential units. However, some impacts would be inevitable. As cabarets are not permitted patios under Liquor Control and Licensing Branch policies, no rooftop development is anticipated as a result of the proposal.

The applicant, upon Council endorsement of the proposed 275-seat cabaret, is prepared to proceed immediately with plans approval and construction. The proposed operators are hopeful that construction could be completed before the year's end. The site is located in the south east corner of Smythe and Granville Streets and has been vacant for a number of years. Restoration of this prominent location in the Entertainment District would be a significant step in the revitalization of Granville Street.

Finally, the applicant's are proposing to cater to an older clientele they feel is not presently being served in the Vancouver night life entertainment market. They feel the location's prominent proximity to the Orpheum Theatre and the number of mature audience events conducted at that venue will naturally complement their proposed target market.

Concerns with the Proposal

Staff is very concerned with the concentration of seats in the Entertainment District and the 900 block in particular. The January 2001 Council endorsement of cabaret relocations to the 900 block has resulted in a higher than anticipated concentration of establishments on the block. The December 1997 amended policy approved a distribution of up to three neighbourhood pubs and two cabarets in the 900 block (the seat totals at that time equalled 455 seats). Presently, Council has endorsed or conditionally endorsed two neighbourhood pubs and four cabarets, representing 735 new liquor license seats on the block. If Council endorses the Consideration item, then the revised distribution would be one neighbourhood pub and four cabarets, which would result in a revised seat total of 815 new seats on the block.

If approved, it should be noted that while the total number of establishments would remain unchanged at five, staff is very concerned with the new distribution of the types of establishments. The distribution has shifted from the majority of the establishments (three being small traditionally non problematic neighbourhood pubs and two small (130-seat) cabarets to one small neighbourhood pub, two small cabarets (130 and 125 seats, respectively) and two large cabarets (220 seats) and this request for 275 seats). The distribution of establishments has changed from something staff felt would have a limited impact to one that could have significant impact on the street at closing time.

One other concern relates to the size of the proposed 275-seat cabaret. This proposed size is 75 seats over the original policing strategy for the Entertainment District of 200 seats maximum per building. Council has endorsed two previous applications that exceeded this policy guideline, a 220-seat cabaret at 965 Granville Street and a 275-seat cabaret at 881 Granville Street. Both cases involved a relocation of the existing cabarets.

Finally, the Vancouver Police Department has several concerns as noted above and would like to see other forms of entertainment encouraged in the district. The Department wishes to note that police resources are already stretched to the limit, particularly at closing time when there is a marked increase in calls for service, fights, assaults, disturbances and drunks. When dealing with these issues, other calls for service are often not answered as quickly.

Proposed Relocation of Class `D' Neighbourhood Pub

The applicant is proposing to relocate the 65-seat neighbourhood pub endorsement from 900 Granville Street to 910 Granville Street (Vinnie's Restaurant) adjacent to the Vogue Theatre as part of this request. Staff acknowledges that the applicant may have some credible arguments to support the request for a neighbourhood pub at the proposed location. However, staff cannot support the applicant's request to have this item considered by Council at this time for a number of reasons.

Although the applicant's request is significantly different from a similar request brought before Council a few months ago, it must still be considered and processed as a new application from the City's perspective. In this case the applicant had a full Council endorsement and had received all of the required Liquor Control and Licensing Branch approvals. The other application had no final approvals.

As the proposed relocation for the pub would be treated as a new application, a separate report would have to be prepared for Council's consideration and would be assessed relative to Council's January 2001 policy to not favourable support future applications until certain conditions have been met. Therefore, staff is recommending that Council not provide any decision or consideration toward the proposed neighbourhood pub at the Vinnie's Restaurant, 910 Granville Street site and that if Council wishes to endorse the applicant's request for a larger cabaret, it should be on the condition that the endorsed neighbourhood pub approval with the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch is withdrawn or removed permanently from the site by the applicant.

However, it should be noted that the applicant has proceeded through a lengthy provincial liquor licensing process at significant cost and he may not wish to completely abandon the neighbourhood pub application. Staff suggests that "how the neighbourhood pub approval is removed from the site" be left to the authority having jurisdiction, i.e., the Liquor Controland Licensing Branch, and the applicant, so long as there is no chance a neighbourhood pub could open in the same building as the expanded cabaret.

CONCLUSION

Staff recommends that the conditional endorsement for a Class `C' Cabaret at 952 Granville Street be amended by Council, to recognize the surrender or relocation of the existing Class `C' license at 1055 Homer Street as outlined in this report. Staff also has put forward for Council's consideration the applicant's proposal for a larger cabaret, recognizing the seat-for-seat transfer and the removal of the previously approved neighbourhood pub from the site. Staff notes there are a number of positive factors with the applicant's proposal, but also notes there are some significant concerns.

* * * * *

APPENDIX A

Distribution of New Liquor License seats for Theatre Row
Name/location	License type	SEATS ENDORSED FULLY	CONDITIONAL SEATS	PROPOSED SEATS	STATUS
700 Block:
No applications or existing seats.
800 Block:
800 Granville Street	Neigh. Pub	65 & 20p			open and operating.
868 Granville Street	Neigh. Pub	65			No Development permit has been applied for & LCLB Processing.
881 Granville Street	Cabaret	275			open and operating.
Sub-total for Block		405
900 Block:
900 Granville Street	Pub & Cab.	65 & 20p*	130	145	Subject of this report. Proposing an additional 145 cabaret seats removing 65 N. pub seats - net increase of 75 seats at this address.
919 Granville Street	Cabaret	125			Cab. Endorsed fully (Pony's reloc.)-- seat relocation to be final by Oct 30th, 2001
950 Granville Street	Neigh. Pub		65 & 20p		Time limit expired on March 14th, 2001.
952 Granville Street	Pub & Cab.	65 & 20p	130		Neigh. Pub fully endorsed. Cabaret legal agreement to be signed by September 14th, 2001. Agreement drafted awaiting execution.
965 Granville Street	Cabaret	220		65 & 20p	Cab. Endorsed fully (Luv-A-Fair reloc.)-- seat relocation to be final by Oct 25th, 2001 & Pub, refused at this time.
Sub-total for Block		410	260	145	= 815 new seats on the block + 275 existing seats = 1090 total seats
Row Totals For Entertainment District		815	260	145	= 1,220 possible NEW SEATS IN THE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT.

* Struck out figures are proposals that are either expired, not endorsed at this time or proposed to be moved/withdrawn. The #'s are not incl. in the totals.

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver