Vancouver City Council |
POLICY REPORT
LICENSING
Date: May 14th, 2003
Author/Local: A. Straka/604-871-6427
G. Gusdal/604-871-6461
RTS No. 03376
CC File Nos. 2611-1/113
Meeting Date: May 27, 2003
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
Chief License Inspector in consultation with the Director of Legal Services
SUBJECT:
Temporary Amendments to Provincial Liquor Licenses
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve an amendment to the License By-Law to assign to the Chief License Inspector the executive or administrative power of Council, set out in section 11.3 of the Liquor Control and Licensing Act, to provide to the general manager under that Act comments, or views of residents, on any proposed amendment to a license issued under section 12 of that Act so long as the proposed amendment will not have force or effect for more than one year, and so long as the Chief License Inspector may choose to refer any particular amendment to Council for comment.
B. THAT Council approve an amendment to the License By-Law to include the current application processing fees for comments on permanent amendments to, or new, provincial liquor licenses in a new Schedule to the By-Law with a corresponding reference in the text, generally as outlined or referred to in Appendix A (Part 1) .
C. THAT Council approve an amendment to the License By-Law to include an application processing fee of $50.00 for comments on temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses in a new Schedule to the By-Law with a corresponding reference in the text, generally as outlined or referred to in Appendix A (Part 2).
D. THAT Council authorize the Director of Legal Services to bring forward the appropriate by-law amendments generally as set out in this report and in Appendix A.
GENERAL MANAGER COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of the above recommendations.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council, by way of License By-Law No. 4450, regulates the payment of fees for all types of business licenses, including liquor licensed establishments, in the City of Vancouver.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval to amend License By-Law No. 4450 by assigning the power to comment on temporary, one-year limited amendments to provincial liquor licenses to the Chief License Inspector, implementing an application processing fee of $50.00 for such comments and including the current application processing fees for comments on permanent amendments to, or new, provincial liquor licenses in a new Schedule "B" to the License By-Law with a corresponding reference in the text.
BACKGROUNDPrior to December 2, 2002, the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB) required operators of licensed establishments to obtain approval from City staff and the Vancouver Police Department for all temporary liquor license amendments prior to granting a temporary amendment to the provincial liquor license. Such requests typically included temporary hour changes, temporary increases in venue capacities and extensions to licensed areas (such as patio areas or additional floor space). Normal processing time was three weeks with the LCLB requiring two weeks advanced notice.
In March 2002, the Provincial Government approved significant changes to existing liquor regulations to improve public safety, consumer choice and customer service. The regulations implementing these changes came into effect on December 2, 2002 and in many instances, substantially changed the way applications are processed by local government. Section 11.3 of the Liquor Control and Licensing Act and Sections 53(4),(5) and (6) of the Liquor Control and Licensing Regulation now require that the General Manager of the LCLB give local government an opportunity to comment on specific types of requests to amend a liquor license from liquor establishments within its jurisdiction, whether the amendment is permanent or temporary.
This new requirement negates the previous process which allowed comments on requests for temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses to be made at a city staff level.
Past Council policy was to provide comments on all temporary or permanent amendments to provincial liquor licenses, as well as new licenses, when requested by the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch. Council's policy enabled proper and efficient decision-making in the best interests of the surrounding neighbourhood, the establishment and the City. Therefore, staff feel the best interests of the City would be to continue to provide such comments. Staff anticipate a future report that will further refine the circumstances under which City comments will be provided to the LCLB.DISCUSSION
Assignment of Power to Comment on Temporary Amendments to Provincial Liquor Licenses to Chief License Inspector
Section 269 of the Vancouver Charter states:
"There shall be a Chief License Inspector who, in addition to the powers and duties provided by this Act, shall have such powers and duties as the Council may assign to him from time to time."
Therefore, since the Provincial liquor legislation gives Council the opportunity to comment on all temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses, staff recommend that Council assign this power to the Chief License Inspector. The City currently receives a large volume of requests for comments on temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses, most being relatively straightforward and innocuous. The past process requiring City staff approval for such amendments typically required an approximate three week processing time and functioned relatively smoothly. The new requirement for the general manager under the Liquor Control and Licensing Act to notify Council, and the opportunity for Council to comment on a temporary liquor license amendment, will inevitably require substantially more staff time to draft individual reports and substantially more Council time to consider each request. Assigning the power to comment on temporary liquor license amendments to the Chief License Inspector would reduce required processing time yet still allow the Inspector to forward controversial requests to Council for deliberation.
Implementation of Processing Fee
In the past, there has been no processing fee charged to individuals requesting comments from the City on temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses.
Section 11.4 (1) of the Liquor Control and Licensing Act now provides authority for the City to charge cost recovery fees by stating that "A local government that provides comments or recommendations on an application for the issue, amendment or renewal of a license under this Act may, by bylaw, and a first nation that provides comments or recommendations on such an application may, if it is authorized to do so by federal legislation or a treaty, impose fees on the applicant in order to recover the costs incurred by the local government or the first nation, as the case may be, in assessing the application."
Therefore, to help recover the cost of staff time in processing requests for comments on temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses, staff recommend that a new application processing fee of $50.00 be charged effective on the by-law enactment date. This fee is to be included in a new Schedule "B" of the License By-Law with a corresponding reference in the text of the By-Law to the effect that every person who receives comments from Council or its delegate on a temporary amendment to a provincial liquor license must pay to the City a fee as specified in Schedule "B" of this By-Law."
Application Processing Fees for Comments on Provincial Liquor Licenses
In May 2000, Council considered a staff report to modify the existing public consultation process used to obtain feedback on proposed amendments to, or new, provincial liquor licenses and aid Council in providing comments for the LCLB on a specific application. Part of this report also included the implementation of new application processing fees to reflect staff time required for the revised application process. These fees reflect the cost of the level of public consultation required for each application at the discretion of the Chief License Inspector. The fees are shown in the table below:
Application Fees based on Required Level of Public Consultation
Fee Increment
Total Fee
1. Base Fee
$750
2. Neighbourhood Notification
$900
$1,650
3. Staff Held Neighbourhood Public Meeting
$1,550
$3,200
4. Telephone Survey
$850
$4,050
Although the above fees were approved as part of Council's motion in May 2000, they were not specifically included in the License By-Law and the opportunity now exists to do so as part of this report. The Provincial legislation specifically allows for the establishment of fees and it is appropriate that these fees are included in the By-Law so that they can be increased annually by the same proportion applied to all other fees in the By-Law.
The application processing fees for comments on permanent amendments to, or new, provincial liquor licenses are to be included in a new Schedule "B" of the License By-Law with a corresponding reference in the text of the By-Law to the effect that every person who receives comments from Council or its delegate on a new provincial liquor license or amendment to an existing provincial liquor license must pay to the City a fee as specified in Schedule "B" of this By-Law." The By-law should also provide that if the Council or its delegate implements a particular level of inquiry but then decides to require a higher level, the applicant must pay the higher fee.
Proposed Amendments to License By-Law
It is proposed that License By-Law No. 4450 be amended generally as set out in Appendix A Part 1 and Part 2 to this report subject to such changes as the Director of Legal Services considers necessary.
CONCLUSION
The proposed amendments to the License By-Law No. 4450 as outlined in this report will assign the power to comment on all temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses to the Chief License Inspector and implement an application processing fee of $50.00 for such comments. These amendments will enable staff to continue to process and approve the straightforward temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses and forward the more controversial requests to Council. The $50.00 application processing fee will also help to recover the cost of staff time in processing requests for comments on temporary liquor license amendments.
The proposed amendments will also include the current application processing fees for comments on amendments to, or new, provincial liquor licenses into the By-law.
- - - - -
APPENDIX A (PART 1)
1. Include the current application processing fees for comments on amendments to, or new, provincial liquor licenses as outlined below in a new Schedule "B" of License By-Law No. 4450 with a corresponding reference in the text of the By-Law to the effect that every person who receives comments from Council or its delegate on a new Provincial liquor license or amendment to an existing provincial liquor license must pay to the City a fee as specified in Schedule "B" of this By-Law."
Application Fees based on Required
Level of Public Consultation * Fee Increment Total Fee
Base Fee $750
Neighbourhood Notification $900 $1,650
Staff Held Neighbourhood
Public Meeting $1,550 $3,200
Telephone Survey $850 $4,050
* The level of public consultation per application is at the discretion of the Chief License Inspector.
2. The new title for Schedule "B" is to be similar to: "Miscellaneous Service Fees".
APPENDIX A (PART 2)
Provide for delegation of commentary to the Chief License Inspector, and establish a new application processing fee of $50.00 for comments on temporary amendments to provincial liquor licenses in Schedule "B" to License By-Law No. 4450, along with a corresponding reference in the text of the By-Law to the effect that every person who receives comments from Council or its delegate on a temporary amendment to a provincial liquor license must pay to the City a fee as specified in Schedule "B" of this By-Law.
* * * * *