ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM:

Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

5680 Main Street - Private Liquor Store

 

CONSIDERATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

(ii) applicant to submit copy of Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB) preliminary approval letter;

(iii) staff to conduct a neighbourhood notification of affected neighbours;

(iv) staff review to include an assessment of the following factors:

(v) that Development Permits be time-limited;

(vi) applications deemed controversial by the Director of Planning may be referred to Council for advice;

(vii) Liquor Stores not be permitted within 150 metres of another Liquor Store; and

(viii) Liquor Stores not be permitted within 150 metres of a School (public or private), Church, or Park.

At the same time Council instructed the Director of Planning to favourably consider development applications for Liquor Stores selling beer and wine, or hard liquor to "only" those sites in the city currently approved as Liquor Stores.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the Council resolution of April 8, 2003, this development application is being referred to Council for advice as the proposal has generated a significant level of concern in the community.

The site contains an existing Neighbourhood Public House (Penny Lane) and concerns have been expressed about the available parking and loading facilities and the suitability of introducing this use at this location.

Based on the applicant's operational plans, which are intended to improve the parking and loading situation, the Director of Planning is inclined to support a time-limited approval in order to monitor the impact, however; before making a decision, the application is being referred to Council for advice.

PURPOSE

This report seeks Council's advice on a development application to change the use of a portion of an existing building from Retail to Liquor Store (Beer only).

SITE DESCRIPTION AND CONTEXT

The site is located on the northeast corner of 41st Avenue and Main Street, and is zoned C-2 (Commercial). The site contains an existing Neighbourhood Public House (Penny Lane) and the remainder of the site is taken up with single-storey Retail tenancies, with an area at the rear for off-street parking and loading. The proposal is to convert one of the Retail tenancies to a Private Liquor Store (Beer only). The site contains a total of eleven (11) off-street parking spaces and two (2) off-street loading spaces. The site and surrounding zoning are shown on the attached Appendix "A".

Staff carried out a land use survey of the surrounding area, similar to that which would be done for a liquor licensed premises, as covered by Council Policy. The survey area contains a mix of commercial and residential uses. The closest Government Liquor Store (5555 Cambie Street) is over 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) from this location.

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

The application seeks approval to change the use of approximately 63 square metres (675 sq. ft.) of the existing Retail space adjacent to the existing Pub to provide for a new private Liquor Store (beer only).

The applicant's submission includes a declaration that the Liquor Store would be used for the sale of "beer only" and has indicated the proposed hours of operation for the Liquor Store to be 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days a week.

The applicant is the current operator of the Penny Lane Pub (5688 Main Street) located on the southeastern portion of this site. Attached as `Appendix B' to this report is the applicant's operational plans for this facility.

The proposed Liquor Store has been assessed against the applicable provisions of the Zoning and Development By-law and the Parking By-law. Staff have also reviewed the application against the guidelines Council recently adopted for the review of these types of applications involving Liquor Stores selling "only beer or "only" wine.

The following summarizes the results of the review process:

Proximity to Other Uses - The proposed Liquor Store is not within 150 metres of another Liquor Store, nor within 150 metres of any Schools, Parks, Churches, or other licensed premises (apart from the adjacent Pub which does currently include off-sales).

Parking/Loading Provisions - This site does not currently provide the full off-street parking spaces required under the Parking By-law (15 spaces required) however, the proposed change of use to Liquor Store does not increase the on-site parking and loading requirements. Loading spaces are available at the rear of the site, however; the size of these spaces, and the limited manoeuvring area in the parking lot, have not been adequate to accommodate the size of trucks making deliveries to this site. As noted in the applicant's operational plan, the increased cooler space available within the proposed new store should allow for less frequent deliveries, and in a smaller truck than is currently utilized.

In addition, limiting the deliveries to once a week on Monday mornings (8:00 a.m.) will allow for this truck to use the off-street parking/loading area (when it is not being used by other vehicles), and eliminate the current situation where delivery trucks often block the City streets.

The applicant's operational plan also indicates a short-term parking space will be made available adjacent to the liquor store, for those patrons looking to make a quick stop.

Simplified plans, including site plan and floor plan of the location, are included in `Appendix C'.

Notification - As part of the review of this development application, 266 neighbouring property owners were notified of the proposal. The Director of Planning received 72 individual letters of objection (68 from within the notification area and 4 from outside this area). The notification area is included in the attached `Appendix A' map.

A summary of the neighbourhood objections is as follows:

(i) concerns expressed with the amount of available parking/loading on this site;

(ii) proposed hours of operation "disrespectful to the residential character of the area";

(iii) existing Pub operation already has negative effects on the area, i.e., panhandlers,
bottle return/collection problems;

(iv) noise, traffic, safety and influence on the children in the area; and

(v) negative effects on property values.

POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMENTS

The Vancouver Police Department has reviewed this development application and has expressed no concerns.

CONCLUSION

The proposed development meets the technical requirements of the Zoning and Development By-law, but the site has challenges with regard to the available off-street parking and loading provisions. The proposal does meet the guidelines regarding separation from Schools, Parks, Churches, and other liquor stores, as recently adopted by City Council, but has generated significant concerns in the community as to the suitability of this location for the proposed use.

With the anticipated improvements to the delivery system and the management of the parking and loading areas, the Director of Planning is inclined to support this proposal, on a time-limited basis to monitor the impacts, but before making a final decision, is seeking any advice that Council may wish to provide.

LINK TO APPENDICES A - C

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