ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Planning and Environment Committee

FROM:

Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

3102 West Broadway - Private Liquor Store
Development Application Number DE408796

 

CONSIDERATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

On April 8, 2003, City Council adopted policies and guidelines for the review of Liquor Store applications in the City of Vancouver, including the following:

(i) submission of Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB) preliminary approval letter;

(ii) neighbourhood notification of affected neighbours;

(iii) that Development Permits be time-limited;

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

(v) Liquor Stores to be separated by a minimum of 150 m from other Liquor Stores, and Schools (public and private), Churches, and Parks.

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.

On November 2, 2004, Council resolved that the Liquor Store Guidelines be amended as necessary to allow consideration of two categories of Liquor Store as follows:

- Maximum of one (1) store to be considered in each identified Local Shopping Area (LSA) that currently have no liquor store of any type.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the Council resolution of November 2, 2004, this development application is being referred to Council for advice as the proposal does not comply to the new policies adopted by Council with regard to Type 1 stores located in a Local Shopping Area, and has generated significant concerns in the community.

The Director of Planning is not inclined to support this proposal, 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 an area on the ground floor of this existing building to provide for a new private Liquor Store
(Type 1 - Beer only).

SITE DESCRIPTION AND CONTEXT

The Liquor Store is proposed for a portion of the ground floor in the existing building located on the southwest corner of West Broadway and Balaclava Street. The site is zoned
C-2C. 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 site is located within a Local Shopping Area (Broadway- Collingwood to Larch). The closest existing Liquor Stores are the private Wine Store at 2752 West Broadway (Broadway International Wines) and the existing Liquor Store adjacent to Darby Dawes Pub at 2001 Macdonald Street. The closest Government Liquor Store is approximately 1.6 km away at 2020 West Broadway.

PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT

The application seeks approval to alter and change the use of a portion of the ground floor in the existing mixed -use building on this site to provide for a new private Liquor Store (Type 1- Beer only) having a total area of approximately 249 m² (2,685 sq. ft.).

The applicant's submission includes a declaration that the liquor store would be used for the sale of "beer only" and has indicated proposed hours of operation of the store to be 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days per week. The applicant's operational proposal is attached as Appendix _ B _.

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 amended on November 2, 2004, for the review of these types of applications involving Liquor Stores. The following summarizes the results of the review process:

Local Shopping Area ( LSA) "7" - Broadway - Collingwood Street to Larch Street

The Local Shopping Area in this portion of West Broadway is located between Collingwood Street and Larch Street. While the proposed location is within these boundaries there is already an existing Type 1 Liquor Store (Broadway International Wine Shop) located within the same Local Shopping Area at 2752 West Broadway (approximately .5 km from this proposed site). See Appendix `A' for Local Shopping Area boundaries.

Separation from Family-Oriented Uses

The location is not within 150 m of any elementary or secondary schools, community centres, neighbourhood houses, or parks, however there is an existing Church/Community Centre (St. James Community Centre) at 3214 West 10th Avenue which is just outside the 150 m minimum separation limit.
See Appendix `A'.

Parking/Loading Provisions

The site contains a two-storey mixed-use development consisting of commercial space on the ground floor and six (6) residential units on the second storey. The site provides a total of twelve (12) off-street parking spaces and one (1) off-street loading space, in compliance with the requirements of the Parking By-law. The applicant has submitted with his operational plan, a summary of how and where the beer deliveries would be made, such that the delivery trucks would not utilize the surrounding streets, or block the lane during their delivery procedures.

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

Notification

As part of the review of this development application, 168 neighbouring property owners were notified of the proposal. The Director of Planning received 58 individual letters expressing concerns with the proposal, and a petition with a total of 46 names, objecting to the proposal. The notification area is included in the attached Appendix _A_ map.

A summary of the neighbourhood objections is as follows:

(i) Concerns expressed about the negative impact of such a use: citing expectations this will cause more noise, traffic, loitering and safety issues.

(ii) Existing liquor outlets can service the area, no need to add more liquor stores in this area.

POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMENTS

The Vancouver Police Department has reviewed this proposal and has not expressed any concerns.

CONCLUSION

The proposal meets the technical requirements of the Zoning and Development By-law and the Parking By-law, but is contrary to Council-approved guidelines which call for a maximum of one liquor store in any Local Shopping Area. In addition, the proposal has generated significant concerns in the neighbourhood. The Director of Planning is not inclined to support the proposal, but is seeking any advice which Council may wish to provide.

LINK TO APPENDICES

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