A bid by Smoken Bones Cookshack to add dancing or singing to the menu has been shot down by Victoria council.
The 200-seat restaurant on the ground floor of the Hudson condominium at 1701 Douglas St. was seeking council support to the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch for a patron participation endorsement that would allow customers to participate in entertainment such as singing and dancing.
Initially, Smoken Bones had also sought to have its current hours of 9 a.m. to midnight extended to 1 a.m. but withdrew that portion of the application after seeing negative feedback.
The restaurant, which has been in operation since January 2012, occasionally hosts live music and events such as weddings.
Owner Ken Hueston said he had no plans to install a dance floor.
City staff recommended supporting the application but council declined, worrying that it would be a nuisance for neighbours, particularly those living in the condominiums directly above the restaurant.
The city received eight letters opposing the requested change, including the Hudson strata council and the Downtown Victoria Residents Association.
“I just think, from a common sense standpoint, would any of us want weddings and other loud events in a facility licensed for 200 seats directly below our bedroom?” said Coun. Ben Isitt. “I think the answer is pretty clear.
Coun. Pam Madoff said to endorse the application would be to entrench conflict.
“I was concerned with the letters that we got and the concerns they had about the existing operation,” Madoff said. “So for me, the notion of entrenching the things that seem to be causing the most conflict is not something I can support,” said Madoff, who added the owner can still apply for special event permits.
Coun. Geoff Young said that part of the concern seemed to be about there not being enough soundproofing between the restaurant and the residents above, and wondered if it was an issue the city wanted to be involved with.
He noted the city is in support of mixed-use buildings within the downtown.
“I’m really reluctant to get into the area of adjudicating differences between residents and owners within the same building,” Young said.
Conflict is common in strata buildings, even more so in mixed-use buildings, he said.
Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe said she supports dancing and karaoke.
“It is a vibrant business and we do want to support vibrant businesses in our downtown,” she said. “But it’s just the wrong proposal in the wrong place.”
Mayor Dean Fortin said that had someone proposed a business where there would be dancing and singing at the time the Hudson was being proposed, he wouldn’t have approved it.
“I would have said, ‘OK, that’s a problem,’ ” Fortin said.
Isitt said the decision didn’t preclude the applicant from coming back after making some changes such as improvements to soundproofing.
Smoken Bones owner Hueston said he had no intention of changing what he’s doing at the restaurant and was only looking for the change to his licence “for the protection of my business.”
“We do live venues all the time and, if somebody stands up and starts dancing, we’re at fault for not having public participation [as part of the licence], so can be fined or closed,” Hueston said.
“I don’t want to install a dance floor, and I don’t want to have nightclub vibrancy.”
He said the city receiving eight letters when 463 notices were sent out was not a very high percentage.
