A liquor store will not be going into the Crest Shopping Centre.
At its March 5 meeting, Burnaby city council unanimously voted against a proposal that would have seen the Hop and Vine Liquor Store on Burnwood Drive in North Burnaby relocate to the 10th Avenue mall.
“I was very pleased,” said Bill Conolly, who, a month earlier, presented a petition of 50 signatures at a public hearing, opposing the move.
During his Jan. 30 presentation, Conolly, who’s lived in the area for more than 40 years, noted the neighbourhood is adequately served by existing liquor stores. They include the Northgate B.C. Liquor Store in Lougheed Town Centre (about 2.5 kilometres from the Crest), Oliver Twist on Edmonds Street (about three kilometres away) and the HighGate Village B.C. Liquor Store on Kingsway. Under Liquor Control and Licensing Branch regulations, liquor stores need to be at least one kilometre apart.
The proposed store’s proximity to child-care facilities and schools was another concern shared by Conolly and his neighbours.
“There are 12 child-care facilities (nearby),” Conolly told the NOW after the council meeting. “You see mother duck with all her little ducklings and that’s common all through the day.”
Adding a liquor store would likely increase criminal activity in the area, he added.
Coun. Colleen Jordan agreed with Conolly that there were plenty of outlets around to purchase booze from.
“It’s not necessary,” she said. “A lot of the other private liquor stores – there aren’t very many – but most of them are in a more commercial zone, like the ones that are attached to pubs. ... But the Crest is right in the middle of a single-family (neighbourhood), right by a school,” she said of nearby Armstrong Elementary School.
Council’s rejection didn’t sit well with John McNally, a rezoning project manager with Kooner Hospitality Group, the owner of Hop and Vine.
After the meeting, one councillor told McNally to “just go to Coquitlam.”
“I think that’s immature and I think it’s irresponsible. It’s not that simple. These people live, work in Burnaby. They provide employment in Burnaby and I think they deserve better than this,” said a frustrated McNally, adding “legitimate businesses in Burnaby can’t relocate.”
The move to North Burnaby is needed because the current landlord on Burnwood Drive wants to turn the liquor store into a coffee shop, according to public hearing documents.
McNally disagreed with the notion that there would be a spike in crime, noting the Crest mall is an ideal location because it’s in a low-crime neighbourhood.
“Technically speaking, we satisfied everything that Burnaby has asked for. Where we have lost this vote is not on technicalities based on zoning. We lost it based on the perception that liquor stores are bad and that there’s going to be trouble,” he said.
