Coquitlam residents overwhelmingly support liquor regulation changes that would open the door to brew pubs and the sale of booze in grocery stores, according to the results of a recent public feedback process.
Current liquor licence holders, however, took the opposite view.
Of the 99 respondents surveyed, 94 said they supported liquor manufacturing while 90 said they were in favour of store-within-a-store sales at grocery stores. Another 86 said they would be in favour of wine being sold on store shelves.
“Interestingly, these views are consistent with the findings of the provincial government’s liquor policy review, which found that most of those who provided input want greater choice in purchasing and consuming alcohol,” said a city staff report.
The public feedback process also found that residents are open to relaxing the 300 m separation distance between liquor stores and other uses.
Between liquor stores, 77 people said the distances should be eliminated, while 73 said the same things for places of worship and 63 for public parks. The majority of respondents (43) said the separation distances should be kept in place for schools while 36 said those should be eliminated.
But the feedback was remarkably different when current liquor licence holders were surveyed.
Of the 26 respondents in that category, 24 said they were opposed to allowing liquor manufacturing — as Port Moody does with its three craft breweries near Rocky Point Park — while 100% said they would not support store-within-a-store sales and wine on grocery store shelves.
They also overwhelmingly supported maintaining the 300 m distances between liquor stores and schools, public parks and places of worship.
“Most of the current licence holders who provided input are not supportive of amendments to allow liquor manufacturing if it includes lounge endorsements or to allow grocery stores to sell any form of liquor,” said the staff report. “Many felt that the existing public access to liquor was sufficient and that if additional opportunities to purchase alcohol were permitted, it would have negative social and health impacts.”
Council referred the report back to committee on Monday and a public hearing on the issue is expected to take place in February.
BQ tower WOULD ADD 189 units
The latest condo tower proposed for the Burquitlam area, which will see 189 new units added to the neighbourhood, cleared the public hearing process Monday evening.
Called Burquitlam One, the 23-storey project, one of many going up around the new Evergreen Line station, will have 20 studio, 60 one-bedroom, 68 two-bedroom and 41 three-bedroom units.
According to a city staff report, the project will generate $288,930 in community amenity contributions to the city and a further $3.4 million in density bonus payments.
@gmckennaTC
