Philippe Lucas
Working With You for a Better Victoria

Multicultural Society seeks permanent licence for its downtown centre

By Bill Cleverley, Times ColonistMay 10, 2009

Victoria will hold a public hearing into the Victoria Multicultural Society’s bid for a liquor licence for its downtown event centre, but councillors are wary of the prospect of adding another 250 licensed seats in the core.

Liquor is legally served at the Victoria Event Centre at 1415 Broad St. more than 150 times a year under special-event liquor licences. The centre operates as a venue for events such as gallery showings, non-profit fundraisers, all-ages dances and theatre, music, comedy and dance performances.

The society wants an ongoing liquor licence to cut down on costs and the red tape. But the city doesn’t want the centre to turn into a pub.

“I don’t want to find us in court trying to prove that the events they are having every single night do not constitute a special event, and them arguing it is a special event, [saying] we have paintings on the wall or we have a performance by a local singer,” Coun. Geoff Young said.

The society argues administering special-events licences and ensuring renters comply with the rules can eat up to 40 per cent of the administrators’ time and costs about $10,000 a year.

But with 46,000 licensed seats in the downtown and the attendant problems of drunkenness, noise, fights and public urination, both city staff and Victoria police don’t want to add to their problems.

A staff report notes there are 2,266 licensed seats within a two-block radius of the event centre and at least seven buildings within a 100-metre radius that have residential units.

Staff are recommending that a couple of conditions be attached if the licence is granted, including: restricting the hours of service to 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday to Wednesday and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

It’s also being recommended that a covenant be placed on the property so that the liquor licence can only operate in conjunction with scheduled events such as performances or gallery shows, said Rob Woodland, director of administrative services for the city.

“So it couldn’t simply be run as a bar, seven days a week,” he said.

“If we can get those conditions put on this licence, we feel comfortable recommending it.”

Young said he wouldn’t be comfortable endorsing the licence without a covenant. “I would prefer some kind of a numerical limit. If it’s a special event, it can’t be more than 75 times a year or twice a week,” he said.

Coun. Philippe Lucas noted many events held at the centre are non-alcoholic, adding that the organization has supported a number of causes.

“I think it is fair to say that this is a much greater contributor to the social and the cultural fabric of our downtown core than the average pub,” he said. “I’m not suggesting that a lot of pubs don’t host a lot of live bands or events, but the mandate here is clearly different than what we would see in a normal pub.”

bcleverley@tc.canwest.com

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