163 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

Roxy's liquor licence bid goes to public hearing

Roxy's liquor licence bid goes to public hearing

By Carla Wilson, Times Colonist; With files from Michael D. Reid October 10, 2012

Victoria residents will get a chance to have their say on the Roxy Classic Theatre's bid to serve liquor at its Quadra Street location.

Vogue Amusements Ltd., operating as the Roxy, has applied for a liquor primary licence. Victoria councillors voted last week to hold a public hearing on the issue. Until last April, B.C. movie theatres were not allowed to apply for a licence to serve alcohol - a rule that Roxy owner Michael Sharpe called "archaic."

Under the Roxy's application, the maximum hours of liquor service would be from 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Actual hours would vary because liquor service would be permitted between one hour before and one hour after a movie or event under this application, a city staff report said.

However, council is also looking into whether those suggested hours can be tightened up. "We're prepared to move forward with the application to a public hearing based on liquor service seven days a week, no later than 11 p.m.," Rob Woodland, the city's director of legislative and regulatory services, said Tuesday. "Mr. Sharpe has advised he is amenable to that change in his licence application. He had requested hours that were a bit later."

I hate the fact that a compromise is already called for, but this might be a reasonable first step. For live events, it means it does not become a de facto 447-person nightclub, with a 1am closing (Shark Club and Logan's close at 1am). What it becomes is a licensed live music sit-down venue like the Royal Theatre (which is licensed for all seats) but with what can only be presumed to be a much lower cost structure (rental) for live acts. Many people dislike going to nightclubs to see live acts as they never know if they may have to stand, or have seats with a poor view. Presumably, Mike can even have reserved seating for live acts if he works the ticketing that way. Which is probably easy now with online ticketing systems.

Councillors want to know if it is possible to stipulate liquor service wrap up one hour before the end of a movie or event, Coun. Pamela Madoff said. "The concern being, the movie's finished, [theatregoers] are sitting around in their theatre seat drinking for an hour and spilling out onto the street."

The Roxy's capacity is 447 people.

I don't know about this. They don't turn off the taps at the end of the second period when I'm watching a game at the Shark Club. And we don't always "spill out".

[VicHockeyFan]

VV is mentioned here:

Victoria News - How about a beer or wine with that popcorn? - Mobile Edition

[Sparky]

Sorry VHF I read it twice and didn't see the VV reference.

Perhaps I need to be spoon fed.

[Benezet]

What it becomes is a licensed live music sit-down venue like the Royal Theatre (which is licensed for all seats) but with what can only be presumed to be a much lower cost structure (rental) for live acts.

Last time I went to a show at the Royal, they didn't allow booze into the auditorium. So far as I know, they never do...

[martini]

Last time I went to a show at the Royal, they didn't allow booze into the auditorium. So far as I know, they never do...

Exactly.

[VicHockeyFan]

Last time I went to a show at the Royal, they didn't allow booze into the auditorium. So far as I know, they never do...

Maybe they don't but three years ago they got themselves a 1400-seat license, I was at the hearing.

[pherthyl]

Maybe they don't but three years ago they got themselves a 1400-seat license, I was at the hearing.

That's different than selling liquor during intermission like they do now?

[VicHockeyFan]

That's different than selling liquor during intermission like they do now?

Yes, previously only the lobby was licensed. So three years ago, the city gave themselves the second-biggest license on the city (after Save On Foods Memorial) that allows them to serve liquor to every person that occupies a seat in the place.

The hearing was a bit awkward as they City had the final say on the application... by the City. So they were in the position of making a ruling on themselves and passing that to the liquor board.

I do not know if they have ever used it. I do know that they just had an event where special guests sipped wine on stage with the cast of MacBeth.

[Mike K.]

Sorry VHF I read it twice and didn't see the VV reference.

Perhaps I need to be spoon fed.

Here it is:

“I guess I can see how someone might want to have a few beers while at a (for example) martial-arts triple feature,” wrote ‘Amor de Cosmos’ on Vibrant Victoria, adding a smirking emoticon.

[Benezet]

The hearing was a bit awkward as they City had the final say on the application... by the City. So they were in the position of making a ruling on themselves and passing that to the liquor board.

The City made the application? This makes no sense, since it neither owns nor operates the venue.

[VicHockeyFan]

The City made the application? This makes no sense, since it neither owns nor operates the venue.

Really, who owns it?

In any event, you can understand the conflict, at the very least, Victoria (and Saanich) pays most of the bills there and certainly Victoria Councillors sit on the Society board (I think the society just runs it, not owns it).

[Benezet]

Really, who owns it?

In any event, you can understand the conflict, at the very least, Victoria (and Saanich) pays most of the bills there and certainly Victoria Councillors sit on the Society board (I think the society just runs it, not owns it).

It's owned by the CRD, who doesn't operate it at all. The operator is the Royal and McPherson Theatres Society, which is a non-profit. I don't see there being much of a conflict, sorry.

I'll try get some background from an insider I know at the theatre.

[VicHockeyFan]

^ OK, well that sounds fair. In any event, it's the government approving a license for another government. And Saanich and City Councillors sit on the board that runs it.

I can assure you, the City would not approve a private operator a 1400-seat liquor license.

[Benezet]

I can assure you, the City would not approve a private operator a 1400-seat liquor license.

Arena?

[VicHockeyFan]

Arena?

Yes, but the city owns the arena and holds the license. RG uses it as a third-party. What I mean is, they would not give you or I a 1,400 seat license for a pub, concert hall, or theatre.

[Benezet]

The city owns the arena and holds the license.

Sorry to be so far off-topic, and for not doing more homework, but how is it that RG is in trouble with the Liquor Board for licence infractions, and not the City as the licence holder?

[VicHockeyFan]

Sorry to be so far off-topic, and for not doing more homework, but how is it that RG is in trouble with the Liquor Board for licence infractions, and not the City as the licence holder?

I worked for a third-party holder for seven years. He basically takes on all the responsibility for the license, fines, hearings, suspensions etc. but the holder is still the holder. The third-party has to go through all the same hoops of the holder to get third-party status. But the third-party can't transfer, or alter the license without the say so of the holder. I've gone through that process (adjustment) with the third-party holder too.

[Benezet]

Thanks. It seems like a somewhat crooked system to me, and I can imagine people like Jack Ruby in the thick of it, but there must be way more to it that I'll never know. I'll just stick to the customer side of the bar :-)

Meanwhile, at the Roxy, I wish them luck. If you can drink at every restaurant, community event, caffe, theatre lobby, airport, pool hall, brewery, campsite, hotel lounge, and outdoor concert, why shouldn't you be allowed to drink at a movie?

[VicHockeyFan]

Meanwhile, at the Roxy, I wish them luck. If you can drink at every restaurant, community event, caffe, theatre lobby, airport, pool hall, brewery, campsite, hotel lounge, and outdoor concert, why shouldn't you be allowed to drink at a movie?

Good question. Ben Isitt wonders how it will affect the underage mid-week movies... Well Ben, go to the Roxy theatre mid-week and see how many kids you find. Plus they can go to the other 30 or so screens in this town.

[Benezet]

This doesn't pertain directly to the Roxy, but we've been talking about the Royal's liquor licence here, and I have some further info about it from a manager at the theatre.

- The liquor licence is held by the operator, not the owner.
- The recent change to the licence addressed two main things: the requirement for proper licensing for private receptions on the stage, which have become important fund-raising events for some of the theatre's users (and which were previously covered by special-occasions licences), and the reconciliation of reality with an old and inaccurate "red-line" drawing (specifying the service areas) that omitted significant portions of the lobbies and other changes due to renovations, which in turn messed up the square-footage formula at the time. (The licence change was in the works for a very long time, incidentally, so I guess things were not considered problematic for the Liquor Board in the meantime.)
- The entire building is now included in the licence, but it's largely as a matter of convenience and practicality. The operator has never had the intention to serve booze in the auditorium during performances, which is fraught with issues. The main reason the auditorium was not excluded was because it is the only way to get booze from the lobby to the stage for a reception.
- Liquor sales are a very minor source of revenue for the theatre, and are considered to be more of service than a business by the operators.
- The licence ended up at around 900, which covers every possible combination of intermission crowd plus simultaneous receptions throughout the venue.