SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 2
CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA
MARCH 13, 1997
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: February 25, 1997
File no: 3504-1
CC File no: 4201-1
TO: Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Approval of 1997 Special Events
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT the Special Events in Appendix A be approved, subject to
staff working out acceptable arrangements with the event
organizers.
B. THAT the Vancouver Outdoor Art Exhibit scheduled for June 20,
21, 22 1997 be approved and that the artists that participate
in the exhibit be allowed to sell their art.
C. THAT, if B is approved, Council instruct staff to withhold
enforcement of the CD-1 By-law No. 541 regarding vending on
private property for the three days of the event.
D. THAT the Keefer Street Chinatown Night Market, operating
Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings from May to September, be
extended to include the east sidewalk of 500 Main Street and
the roadway of 200 E. Pender Street, as shown in Appendix F.
CONSIDERATION
E. THAT Council instruct staff to provide a license agreement
satisfactory to the Director of Legal Services, the General
Manager of Engineering Services and the Vancouver Chinatown
Merchants Association that would permit the Night Market from
May to September and that the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants
Association be responsible to pay to the City 10% of the
vendors rental fees.
OR
F. THAT if the Chinatown Night Market extension is approved
Council instruct staff to provide a license agreement
satisfactory to the Director of Legal Services, the General
Manager and the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association and
that the full fee be charged for the Public Street Market
license of $225.00 per night for 66 nights for a total of
$14,850.00.
COUNCIL POLICY
The F.E.S.T. Committee will obtain Council approval for the
anticipated Special Events for the coming year and for Council s
information show the events in the West End separately.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to submit for Council approval the
list of anticipated special events to be held in 1997 and to
identify issues about specific events on which staff need
direction. The Symphony of Fire, Fireworks Competition was
previously approved by Council in a report dated May 23, 1996. A
separate report will be submitted to Council in March to discuss
the Khalsa Diwan Society s Vaisakhi Parade on April 13, 1997.
DISCUSSION
Appendix A contains the list of 158 Special Events which are
anticipated in the City this year and which staff recommend be
approved. Appendix B highlights the West End events. Events in
the West End include the Symphony of Fire, July 26, 30 August 2,
6, the Pride Parade August 4, and the ISKON Parade August 24,
1997. The West End events are shown on a separate calendar in
order to give Council a picture of the number of times the
residents of the West End are impacted. Since the level of event
activity in the West End has decreased over the years, future
event reports will not include a separate West End calendar.
West End events will continue to be included in the annual event
listing in Appendix A.
VANCOUVER OUTDOOR ART EXHIBITION
The Rialto Media Group has requested permission to hold an
Outdoor Art Exhibition on the property surrounding the Vancouver
Art Gallery on June 20, 21, 22, 1997. This event will provide a
temporary high profile outdoor venue for local artist to show and
sell their work.
The inaugural year will focus on a West Coast Native Art theme
which will include a totem pole carving demonstration and an
artistic native theme to all printed promotional material.
All exhibitors will be picked by a jury of experts active in the
arts community. The art displays will encompass many forms
including; paint, ceramic, photography, metal and wood sculpture,
folk, and multimedia. All works of art displayed will be
original and for sale. Tents will be erected on the Georgia
Street plaza and the public will be free to wander the site, view
a wide variety of displays within tents, cast votes for various
award categories and enjoy the ambiance of an outdoor exhibit.
Corporate sponsors will provide cash prize awards for the winners
of the most popular public choice categories.
The organizers hope to make this a premier event for Vancouver
and the arts community with an estimated 50,000 people visiting
the site over three days. The City of Toronto has supported an
Outdoor Art Exhibit for the past 36 years on the grounds of
Toronto s City Hall.
The FEST Committee met with the organizer and is confident that
site details can be resolved and that increased traffic and
pedestrian impact and the possible disruption to the surrounding
merchants can be minimized. Arrangements for security,
additional portable toilets and tent locations will be finalized
with the Vancouver Art Gallery to ensure their operations are not
unduly impacted.
Attached as Appendix D is a letter of support for the Art Exhibit
from the Rental Coordinator of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Attached as Appendix E is a letter from the Rental Coordinator to
the organizer outlining general site logistic concerns and
preferred tent locations.
ZONING REQUIREMENTS
Subsequent to a report to Council dated July 19, 1994, City
Council reaffirmed its policy of not allowing mobile vending or
outdoor kiosks on private property unless specifically provided
for in the Zoning and Development By-law, any CD1 By-law or any
Official Development Plan. The Georgia Street Plaza between Howe
Street and Hornby Street is City owned but managed by the
Vancouver Art Gallery in conjunction with the British Columbia
Building Corporation. The property has a legal description and
therefore is classed as private property.
In the past, staff have approved Special Events and activities,
with Council's sanction, that contravene bylaws when the event is
temporary in nature and does not cause undue hardship to the
integrity of the surrounding area or of the bylaws themselves.
Approval of the Art Exhibit on the Georgia Street Plaza would in
the strictest sense contravene the above mentioned Zoning and
Development by-law. However, staff feel the benefit of the two
day event outweighs the necessity for bylaw enforcement and are
recommending withholding enforcement of the development bylaw in
this instance.
CHINATOWN NIGHT MARKET
BACKGROUND
Each weekend from July 19th to September 29th 1996 the Vancouver
Chinatown Merchants Association hosted a night market on 200 E.
Keefer Street. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights the street
was cleared of vehicles by 7:00 pm and barricades and kiosks were
installed to create a unique open air market. The Market was
originally approved for the sale of produce, however, over the
course of the summer, vendors have added all types of merchandise
from hand crafts to miscellaneous retail goods. The merchants of
Keefer street have supported the event completely and some have
even taken advantage of the event by staying open later or
renting a kiosk. (See Appendix C)
DISCUSSION
This year the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association (VCMA)
has requested an extension of the Night Market. Based on its
growing popularity and the size of the crowds, the VCMA have
requested an extension to include the east sidewalk of 500 Main
Street and the roadway of 200 E. Pender Street. This would
increase the visibility and popularity of the Market as a tourist
destination. It is proposed the event begin in May and run every
weekend until the end of September.
Staff recommends a license agreement between the VCMA and the
City, since there is a significant amount of revenue flowing to
the VCMA from the vendors' fees and the event is much larger and
semi- permanent in nature. The Public Street Market License that
was issued last year is not appropriate given the length of time
this event will now run. The Public Street Market License is
generally used in a "once off" or one weekend type of event.
If Council approves the extension of the site the VCMA will
extend invitations to other ethnic communities to display and
demonstrate their native skills and art work, thereby providing a
rich, culturally diverse focus of activity.
Staff have requested the VCMA obtain signatures of support from
the stakeholders on Main Street and E. Pender Street. BC Transit
is currently reviewing the VCMA s request to reroute transit from
200 E. Pender to 200 E. Hastings Street. The sidewalk of Main
Street is over 15 feet wide and should accommodate the four by
six foot kiosks and still provide sufficient space for
pedestrians. The lane east of Main Street between Keefer Street
and Pender Street has been identified as another option for
pedestrians to use as access between the two blocks of the
Market. This lane, however, would require considerable attention
in order to improve the atmosphere and to make it a welcome area
for event attendees.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
In 1996 Engineering crews installed semi-permanent "No Stopping"
signs on Keefer Street and provided barricades for the closure of
the street from Gore Street to Main Street. The Police
department provided officers for the first few weekends to
monitor the event but after the event was established, decided
continual monitoring was not necessary. These costs were passed
on to the VCMA.
The cost of a "Public Street Market License" (PSML) is $75.00 per
block, per day. However, last year the VCMA was charged $75.00
per weekend. The PSML fee was reduced because of the length of
time of the event, and to keep City costs down. This type of
event has the potential to be successful but expensive to the
organizer. In total, City costs recovered from VCMA including
GST for the 1996 event, was $3,633.86.
The costs were divided up as follows; signs and barricades,
$1,191.48 police assistance, $1,379.65 PSML, $825.00 GST,
$237.73.
Last year the VCMA charged vendors $30.00 per night and
accommodated 110 vendors on 200 E. Keefer. There were ample
vendors to fill all 110 spots Friday, Saturday and Sunday
evenings. With the additional space on the sidewalk of Main
Street and 200 E. Pender Street the VCMA hope to increase the
vendors to 250.
The VCMA charges each vendor $30.00 per night. There are 66
weekend nights from May to September and there is a potential for
250 vendors each night. If all the spots are filled the VCMA
would conceivably receive $495,000.00 in rental fees for 1997.
The Police and Engineering costs would be almost identical for
1997 however if the City charges 10% of the vendors rental fees
that the VCMA receives the City could collect $49,500.00. This
would be a more appropriate method of recovering permit fees.
In a similar situation, the Vancouver Park Board retains 10% of
all food vending profits from vendors on park property during the
four nights of the Symphony of Fire.
As an alternative, if the City does not wish to retain a
percentage of kiosk rental fees, Council may wish to instruct
staff to charge the full fee for the PSML of $75.00 per block,
per day. This works out to $225.00 per night for a cost of
$14,850.00 over the summer.
The VCMA hires private security for site monitoring and provides
clean up after the kiosks are removed and the street is opened to
v e h i c l e t r a f f i c .
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