Council is not supporting an application by Cittas Bistro to keep their taps flowing until 2 a.m. which was made as part of the new provincial liquor regulations.
But they approved a request from the bar to open two hours earlier to serve the breakfast crowd.
Cittas General Manager Colin Pyne said he was pleased with the recommendation to open at 9 a.m. As for the extended night hours he said theyll just have to be patient and wait it out.
"We wish to be open until 2 a.m. Theres a demand to serve at that time," he said.
"Theres more business to do and wed love to do it."
For now he says theyll just bide their time.
The busy neighbourhood bar filed an application for extended hours with the provincial Liquor Control and Licensing Branch in late December last year.
Though the LCLB has final approval, the process for getting hour extensions includes local government and their concerns about noise and impact on the community are taken into account.
Councillor Ken Melamed said he didnt want council to embrace this trend of later hours, particularly in light of Vancouver bars extending their hours to 4 a.m. earlier this month.
Whistler cant satisfy everyone and it shouldnt strive to accommodate everyone.
"Were a tourist recreation oriented resort...we should be stepping up to accommodate this," he said.
"It contradicts the recreation-based orientation of the resort."
Most other councillors agreed.
Only Councillor Marianne Wade supported the 2 a.m. closing, calling on council to allow for a temporary extension to test the waters.
"This venue has a good clean track record," she said.
Senior Planner Mike Kirkegaard highlighted some of staffs concerns about extending the hours, particularly the impact on police patrols that deal with crowds.
Though the impact on policing may be negligible with a one-hour extension at Cittas, it could set a precedent for other bars looking for longer hours.
A number of bars like the GLC have also put in applications of their own.
"They havent approved anything so far so it doesnt appear to me that theyre going to be approving anything too soon," said Paul Street, general manager of Whistler-Blackcomb bars including the GLC.
"Until theyre comfortable extending any licenses...were willing to wait it out."
Administrator Jim Godfrey said staff is in the process of developing a policy to deal with the bar extension and it will be coming before council in the near future.
In the meantime councils recommendation on Cittas will be forwarded to the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch for the final decision.