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No late bar closings for Whistler

But staff recommendations don’t deal with noise and violence, Wade says Municipal staff has recommended to council that Whistler bars should not stay open until 4 a.m.

But staff recommendations don’t deal with noise and violence, Wade says

Municipal staff has recommended to council that Whistler bars should not stay open until 4 a.m.

Instead, staff has suggested a standardized system of closing times, which would allow cabarets to stay open until 2 a.m. and lounges, pubs and restaurants to stay open until 1 a.m.

The report came before council at the Oct. 6 council meeting.

Though she recognized the comprehensive and detailed report, Councillor Marianne Wade said these recommendations do not deal with the noise and violence issues in Whistler during the early hours of the morning.

She asked council to create a task force to examine those issues. The Noise and Violence Committee that Wade is part of will become that task force.

"Closing the doors and saying we’re closed for business at two o’clock in the morning isn’t going to solve our problems," she said after the council meeting.

"We already have that problem and have been dealing with that problem for a while."

Wade explained that the standardized 2 a.m. closings do not deal with the issue of large numbers of people funnelling into Village Square after the bars close. This flood of people puts pressure on the buses and taxis and police services as people wait to get out of the village.

Wade said as long as people are waiting in the village, the potential for noise and violence increases exponentially.

"What I’m saying is there’s other options out there and let’s examine those options and let the people who are in the problem and having to deal with it, come up with the solutions," she said.

The province extended bar hours last December. The new regulations allowed bars to stay open until 4 a.m. as long as they had support of the local government. To date council has been wary of granting 4 a.m. closing times to any applicants, mainly over concerns of noise and violence.

Dale Schweighardt, general manager of Buffalo Bill’s, said there’s generally two schools of thought when it comes to 4 a.m. closings.

On one side people believe the parties will start later and so the 2 to 4 a.m. noise issue will become a 4 to 6 a.m. issue.

Then there’s the other side who believe people will naturally start filtering home around 2 a.m. so that by 4 a.m. noise will be minimal.

Schweighardt said a trial run of 4 a.m. closings would be a good idea. For example, bars could get a special license for certain events.

"That’s something that we can sort of monitor and see how it works out and as we move forward we go in a positive direction," he said.

"If there are no problems you go a little further with it and we can balance what’s really happening here. I don’t see the need in Whistler to go to 4 o’clock opening seven days a week… but it’s a possibility in the future that four o’clock openings may be something that work really well, particularly maybe just (for) the ski season or just long weekends, or just festivals and events."

Under the new staff recommendations any licensed establishment that already has closing hours beyond 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. is allowed to keep the same hours. Likewise, any licensed establishment that has earlier hours than the recommended closing times is allowed to apply for an extension of hours within the limits of their category.

Licensed establishments can also apply for a special extension after a review process to determine if a bar is in "good standing" in order to get a temporary licence change for their bar.

The good standing policy was developed to be consistent, fair and equitable to all applicants. In order for an application to be reviewed the applicant must be in good standing, meaning that they must have a history of compliance, within the 12-month period preceding the application.

Councillor Kristi Wells praised the recommendations as they "level the playing field" in the industry.

Wade said there still might be other options. For example there could be a rotating 4 a.m. closure that could be given to various bars around town at different times.

"I personally would rather have people inside and staggered (closings) than outside and causing problems," she said.

Wade is currently on the Noise and Violence Committee, which was formed in May in response to problems in the village. At that time police seized a gun and live ammunition from an Abbottsford teen and responded to the stabbing of two young men from Surrey.

The Noise and Violence Committee includes representatives from nightclubs, the taxi company, the police, bylaw officers, municipal leaders and members of the accommodation sector.

Wade asked to council to legitimize this committee by allowing it to become a task force that would ultimately report back to municipal staff with recommendations on how to deal with the 2 to 4 a.m. window of noise and violence in the village.

"We have to find creative solutions," she said.

"Let’s examine the issue and let’s examine what’s gong on down in the city of Vancouver."

This summer Vancouver approved a trial run where pubs, lounges, cabarets and clubs in the downtown peninsula could stay open until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays as well as on nights before statutory holidays.

The trial period was scheduled to end Sept. 29 but was extended until Nov. 30 to provide enough time for city council to be presented with the results and policy recommendations.

At that time Vancouver police will also present a report with statistical analysis in terms of disturbances and altercations as a result of the 4 a.m. closings.

In response to Vancouver’s extended hours, Abbottsford council has voted to force the city’s nightclubs to close an hour earlier, at 1 a.m., so that the city’s nightclubs will close at the same time as the bars.