ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: May 31, 1999
Author/Local: G. Gusdal/6461
RTS No. 0569

CC File No. 2614-15

VLLC: June 17, 1999

TO:	Vancouver Liquor Licensing Commission
FROM:	Chief License Inspector
SUBJECT:	337 West Pender Street Class ‘C’ Cabaret and Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub: Mark James

CONSIDERATION

A. THAT Council endorse the request by Mark James for a 350-seat Class ‘C’ Cabaret at 337 West Pender Street, having considered the support of residents and business operators of the community as determined by neighbourhood notification and subject to the following:

i) A Time-Limited Development Permit

ii) The signing of a Good Neighbour Agreement with the City before the issuance of a Business License.

iii) No exotic entertainment

or

B. THAT Council advise the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch it does not support the application by Mark James for a 350-seat Class ‘C’ Cabaret at 337 West Pender Street.

C. THAT Council endorse the request by Mark James for a 65-seat Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub with adjoining Restaurant-Class 1 at 337 West Pender Street, having considered the support of residents and business operators of the community as determined by neighbourhood notification and subject to the following:

i) A Time-Limited Development Permit

ii) The signing of a Good Neighbour Agreement with the City before the issuance of a Business License.

iii) No exotic entertainment

iv) A legal agreement providing for the permanent closure of the 100-seat cabaret doing business as Mr. T’s to the satisfaction of the Chief License Inspector and the Director of Legal Services.

or

D. THAT Council advise the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch it does not support the request by Mark James for a Class ’D’ Neighbourhood Pub with adjoining Restaurant - Class 1 at 337 West Pender Street.

A/GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The Acting General Manager of Community Services submits the choice of A or B, and C or D for CONSIDERATION.

POLICY

Council policy requires that new liquor license applications and amendments to existing licenses be subject to a referendum if the premises are located in close proximity to residential accommodation.

For existing Class ‘A’ Lounge/Pub, Class ‘C’ Cabaret or Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub licensed establishments seeking extended hours or seating, Council has endorsed a process of requiring a time-limited development permit or a separate legal agreement outlining conditions of operation.

SUMMARY

Mark James is proposing a new 350-seat Class ‘C’ Cabaret and a 65-seat Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub with adjoining Restaurant-Class 1 in the existing heritage designated building at 337 West Pender Street. Mr. James is proposing to extensively renovate and upgrade the interior and exterior of the building.

The proposed cabaret will be located on the second floor in the old Pender Ballroom space, which is an existing dance hall use. The neighbourhood pub/restaurant proposal will belocated on the main floor and a condition of the approval would be the permanent closure of the existing 100-seat cabaret located in the basement. The application has a number of pros and cons and a tacit agreement has been reached with some of the area community associations, but a full notification should provide further indications of resident concerns.
PURPOSE

Mark James is requesting a Council resolution endorsing his request for a 350-seat Class ‘C’ Cabaret and a 65-seat Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub with adjoining Restaurant-Class 1 at 337 West Pender Street.

BACKGROUND

Mr. James has recently purchased this heritage designated building. As part of the application, and in close consultation with Planning Department staff, he plans to extensively renovate and upgrade all areas of the building, including restoration of the exterior.

The proposed 350-seat cabaret will be located on the second floor and will feature entertainment by live bands playing music intended to attract an older clientele. The hours of operation will be Monday to Saturday 7:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. and Sunday 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight. The 65-seat Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub with an adjoining Restaurant-Class 1 will be located on the ground floor. The hours of operation for the pub and the restaurant will be 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight seven days a week, except Sunday when the pub will open at 11:00 a.m.

The applicant’s intention is to cater to the needs of the community by operating as a mixed use venue with the cabaret space occasionally used as a community meeting hall offering community nights, movies, recitals and live entertainment.

A number of public meetings have been held with the applicant, staff and members from local agencies to discuss the application and any concerns of local residents and business operators. Public participants have expressed concern over parking and traffic impacts on the area, late night noise created by patrons leaving the establishment and the proximity of the proposed establishment to social service centres in the immediate area, particularly VanCity Place for Youth and the Central City Lodge.

The applicant has proposed to close the existing 100-seat Class ‘C’ Cabaret (Mr. T’s) in the basement of the building as a condition of the approval for the Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub. He has also agreed to the following items in lieu of favourable consideration of the application:

· Committed to employing, both in the construction phase and the ongoingoperational phase, as many people as possible from the immediate area, and will work with at least two of the local employment agencies.

· Join and participate as an active member of Bar Watch.

· Commit to an acoustical report and study by a bona fide acoustical engineer and will implement the recommendations of said report.

· Commit to the provision of valet parking.

· Commit to providing the Pender Ballroom for community events when it is not in use as a cabaret.

· Applicant agrees to the Time-Limited Development Permit process.

· Applicant agrees to sign a Good Neighbour Agreement.

· Applicant agrees to work with City staff to design the cabaret entrance such that lineups will be contained as much as possible within the building.

· Applicant commits to ensure that food service will be available at all hours of operation in the cabaret, pub and restaurant.

· Applicant commits to fully trained security staff who will maintain close communication with the Police Department.

The premises are located in the Downtown District (DD) zoning area and the neighbourhood is a mixture of residential, hotel, cabaret, pub, park, church, school, restaurant, retail, office and social service centre uses.

There are seven Class ‘A’ Pubs, (1041 seats), eight Class ‘A’ Lounges (798 seats) four Class ‘C’ Cabarets (798 seats), one Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub (65 seats) and two licensed restaurants in the survey area. The closest provincial government liquor store is located at Harbour Centre, 555 West Hastings Street.

DISCUSSION

The applicant is proposing a 350-seat cabaret on the second floor of the building in the existing Pender Ballroom space. The existing approved use is a dance hall. With some relatively minor work it could be occupied as such, and upon application, a business license would be issued to the operator for a dance hall. The ballroom is presently illegally occupied as artist studios, although enforcement action has been withheld pending completion of theVictory Square plan. The dance hall would be able to operate 24-hours a day from 7:00 a.m. Friday to 2:00 a.m. Monday and until 2:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday. Also, unlike a liquor licensed premise, the police do not have a statutory right to enter the establishment. Though agreements are made with the operators to ensure police access, these agreements do not provide for consequences similar to the Liquor Act for operators that fail to meet their obligations.

The proposed Class ‘D’ Neighbourhood Pub on the main floor is contingent upon the permanent closure of the existing 100-seat cabaret located in the basement. The existing cabaret has not been problematic from a policing or community impact point of view, and neighbourhood pub establishments’ normally cause minimal impact on the surrounding neighbourhood, given the small size of the establishment. Therefore, staff expects that the trade off between these two licenses, in terms of community impact and policing resources, should be equitable.

Staff suggests that if Council is in favour of the cabaret application, and the neighbourhood notification results in little or no opposition, then Council should waive the referendum requirement in lieu of the restoration of the “B” listed heritage building and the removal of an existing dance hall use. Furthermore, staff suggests that if Council is in favour of the neighbourhood pub component of this application, and the neighbourhood notification results in little or no opposition, then Council should waive the referendum requirement in lieu of the permanent closure of the existing 100-seat cabaret at 339 West Pender Street.

Council has waived the referendum requirement once before in a similar situation involving the application at 99 Powell Street.

COMMENTS

The Police Department has concerns with this application and the reasons are as follows:

1. The concept of three levels of entertainment: restaurant, pub and cabaret are consistent with the Entertainment District concept. Having day use of the facility is also consistent.

2. The approval of the International Village pub placed new seats in a no-new-seat policy area (or at least adjacent to it). Council will have to rationalize the policy decisions of the Entertainment District and the no-new-seats policy to the satisfaction of the community.

3. There will have to be a balance between what the approval would bring to the neighbourhood with the potential threats of noise, proximity to an area under dispute by drug traffickers, residential concerns, etc.

4. Management, as always, is the key to whether a place will be a problem or a benefit in the neighbourhood.

5. Part of the balance is to decide which is better, an all-night dance hall/rave site, or a properly managed cabaret, restaurant, pub complex.

6. Police have reservations based on community concerns in this neighbourhood. In the end, the community input may have the greatest weight in terms of the decision to support the proposal or not.

The Planning Department reviewed the application and notes the site is located within the Downtown (DD) Zoning District (Sub-Area ‘C’). Central Area Planning also concurs with the following comments:

The building on this site is listed as a “B” building on the Vancouver Heritage Register and is currently approved for a range of uses including Retail, Office, Manufacturing, Dance School and Fitness Centre and Cabaret in the cellar area.

“Cabaret” and “Neighbourhood Public House” are uses that can be considered in this Sub-Area. However, any proposal to change the use of a portion of this building to provide a Cabaret and a Neighbourhood Public House would require a development permit application. The review process for this type of proposal would include an assessment of the anticipated impacts, such as noise and traffic on neighbouring properties, having particular regard to residential uses. As well, an application of this type would be reviewed in accordance with the provisions of the Cabaret and Restaurant Guidelines adopted by City Council on August 9 and October 4, 1988 and the Neighbourhood or Marine Public House Guidelines adopted by City Council on August 9, 1988.

While this application may provide several public benefits, it also raises some concerns. The development would result in the renovation and occupancy of a Class “B” heritage building. It would also provide the opportunity for imposing a Good Neighbour Agreement as a condition of approval and a Time-Limited Development Permit, in accordance with a recent City Council resolution regarding Cabarets. This would also allow for the imposition of a number of operating conditions and the cancelation of the approval if the operator does not operate in a satisfactory manner.

Such a proposal would impact on the residential livability of the area as it is located in close proximity to a number of residential buildings including the VanCity Place for Youth (across the street) and Central City Lodge and the Victory Rooms which are in the next block of Pender Street. A modest increase in the number of residents in the 300 and 400 blocks of Pender Street is anticipated by the Victory Square Plan.

The dilemma posed by this proposal is that the applicant could proceed with an all-night dance hall because this is already an approved use in the building, and the City would not be able to impose a Good Neighbour Agreement as a condition of approval, nor would we be able to limit the approval time as can be done with a new Cabaret proposal.

The Environmental Health Division of the Vancouver-Richmond Health Board notes that the location is near residential premises and does not recommend approval unless it can be satisfactorily demonstrated that noise from music and patron activity would not affect residents. This can be shown by way of an acoustic impact study.

The Social Planning Department is concerned over the impact on VanCity Place for Youth, and concurs with comments from Central Area Planning and the Housing Centre.

The Director of the Housing Centre, reports that there are 85 low-income housing units in the same block. These are: 45 units in VanCity Place across the street at 326 West Pender and 40 units in Victory Rooms at 514 Homer. One block down is Central City Mission, a care facility with 122 units at 415 West Pender.

The proposal would create more activity on the street during the evening. This can contribute positively to the area’s revitalization, but could have negative impacts on residents because of the increased noise. It is recommended that the Good Neighbour Agreement address noise impacts generated by activities within the building and from patrons exiting the building.

CONCLUSION

Staff has had a difficult time weighing the potential benefits of this application (revitalization of a building in an area of the city that desperately needs it, removal of a historic dance hall use that has none of the current safeguards in place and the closure of a cabaret in favour of a new neighbourhood pub) against the potential concerns of approving more licensed seats in close proximity to the moratorium area of the Downtown Eastside and Gastown and the potential impact these establishments may have on the surrounding neighbourhood.

Staff has held two meetings with community representatives to explain the pros and cons of this proposal and to hear concerns identified by the neighbourhood. At this point there is tacit agreement that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, but the full neighbourhood notification will provide further indication of residents concerns.

The results of the neighbourhood notification will be reported to the Commission at the meeting.

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