The forecast is for flurries of passion with the possibility of intermittent fireworks at a public meeting tonight as the City of Victoria considers an application to rezone land at 2680 Blanshard St. to accommodate the move of the existing government liquor store to another site in that shopping plaza.
The Liquor Distribution Branch has applied to move its 669-square-metre store into the former Jordan’s Furniture location, where it would operate a 1,281-square-metre store.
The proposed move has riled private liquor store operators.
“First and foremost this is about fairness,” said Stephen Harris, executive director of the B.C. Private Liquor Store Association. “The city’s policy around size of liquor stores caps them at 200 square metres. That hasn’t been followed when it comes to government liquor stores, but it is followed when it comes to private stores.”
Harris noted that while the existing store is well beyond the 200-square-metre threshold, if it is to move to a new spot “the expectation is you follow in line with the policy.”
“The concern is that it’s unfair. There is no difference between government and private liquor stores. We do the exact same thing, so why is there a different set of rules for one and not the other,” he said. “We can debate whether 200 square metres is the right or wrong number, but that’s not the question.”
Harris said they also take issue with the fact that the new store would be within one kilometre of existing stores, which is also against policy.
“The current store is grandfathered, that’s fine, but as soon as you make a move there is an expectation you have to now follow the new policy,” he said. “It’s like buying a house with old wiring. It’s fine until you start tinkering with it, in which case you have to update it to the new code.”
Neither Mayor Lisa Helps nor Coun. Chris Coleman would comment ahead of the meeting given the legal implications, though Coleman said he expected passionate responses from both sides of the application.
Last spring, as a councillor, Helps said the city’s policy likely needed to be addressed.
“I think policy needs to be changed to say we have a certain allowable floor area for private liquor stores and a certain allowable floor area for public liquor stores rather than unevenly applying our policy,” she told the Times Colonist at the time.
The LDB refused an interview request, but sent a statement ahead of the meeting.
“As a retailer, B.C. Liquor Stores strives to best meet the needs of our customers, and the proposed new location is a business decision that will help us better serve our customers,” wrote spokeswoman Tarina Palmer. “If the move is approved, the new location in the Blanshard Square Mall would provide customers with a better shopping experience, including an increase in product selection, wider aisles and improved lighting. The new space would also provide an area for additional storage and administrative offices.”
The new space would offer 765 square metres of retail space, 256 square metres of warehouse and 260 square metres of office space on a mezzanine.
Harris said the big losers, if the rezoning is granted, would be the small producers.
“We are big supporters of the local guys, the meaderies, cideries and craft brewers. They often have retail only at the private stores. With an LDB big box store, they don’t typically have a relationship with small producers.”
The public hearing is set for 7 p.m. at city hall.
