Despite concerns about turning a portion of Government Street into a saloon alley, Victoria councillors have endorsed an application from a downtown boutique hotel for a new liquor lounge.
The Bedford Regency Hotel, at 1140 Government St. adjacent to Bastion Square, wants to convert its main floor coffee shop into a 90-seat lounge and close the 100-seat restaurant and lounge (with 70 food-primary and 30 liquor-primary seats) on the mezzanine level.
Coun. Ben Isitt, who did not support the move, said there has been a rapid growth of licensed establishments on that small stretch of Government Street over the past couple of years.
While they are all “good establishments,” Isitt said, “it’s not creating a family-friendly environment.
“So we’re now creating a block of properties that are inaccessible to families with children as well as people who for whatever personal reasons choose not to be around alcohol consumption,” he said. “So I think that’s problematic from a policy standpoint. It’s also, I think, problematic the amount of concentration of these very profitable licensed seats in a handful of hands.”
City director of legislative services Rob Woodland said the province is contemplating changes that would permit children in drinking establishments provided they are accompanied by an adult so that may alleviate some concerns.
There are five other liquor-primary licensed businesses with a total capacity of 1,228 seats within 100 metres of the Bedford Regency: the Upstairs Cabaret, the Bard and Banker Pub, Darcy’s Pub, the Garrick’s Head Pub (a hotel pub attached to the Bedford) and the Irish Times Pub. Within 50 metres there are also five food-primary businesses with seating capacity of 567, says a city staff report.
Coun. Pam Madoff said she shared some of Isitt’s concerns. The city has to be mindful about “unintentionally creating concentrations that do not benefit the city or the neighbourhood,” she said.
She cited Water Street in St. John’s, N.L., and Vancouver’s Granville Street as examples where there’s just too much of one type of establishment. “It’s reached the point where many, many people will not even go down onto Granville Street in the evening because it’s become the club scene and the bar scene, too.”
Madoff said she was prepared to consider the Bedford’s application as it was more of a relocation of liquor seats than an expansion.
Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe said any application to increase licensed seats downtown always raises flags for her.
“I’ve been at this table many times to say that I do have concerns about the increase of liquor seats in the downtown. It’s because of the increase in liquor seats that we had the mayor’s task force on late night behaviour,” she said.
Mayor Dean Fortin said, “I think it’s reflective of not only, frankly, what the tourist demand is but, frankly reflective of what our growing downtown residents — or people who work so much they might as well be living downtown — are looking at.
“I know it’s optimistic but it’s part of the scene that we’re seeing and it’s actually quite interesting. … It’s not your old terry-towel-cloth-on-the-table type of scene anymore.”
There would be no change in existing operating hours of 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to midnight Sundays with the application.
City council is not the approving body for such applications but is asked to provide comments and recommendations to the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch. Neither the police nor city bylaw enforcement had any issues with the application and the city staff report recommended the application be supported.
