Standing Committee on City Finance and Services
March 8, 2023 · 09:30 am
Summary
- Three restaurants (Cinema Public House on Granville, Cold Tea on Granville, Hamburger Mary's on Davie) received Council endorsement to add late-night liquor primary licences alongside their existing restaurant licences, allowing them to operate as bars after 10 pm.
- Council approved a three-year, $13 million contract program for prequalified contractors to maintain and install gas and leachate systems at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta.
- Council approved two 2023 property tax relief measures: a pilot Development Potential Relief Program for roughly 1,360 eligible commercial and industrial properties, and targeted land assessment averaging for approximately 7,570 residential and 3,000+ commercial properties facing large assessment spikes.
Motions
Cinema Public House Dual Licence Endorsement
901 Granville Street Carried Details
- Cinema Public House at 901 Granville Street applied to add a Liquor Primary (bar) licence to its existing restaurant licence, creating a "dual licence."
- Under the dual licence, the venue would operate as a restaurant until 10 pm, then transition to a bar until 3 am, seven days a week, without needing to keep the full kitchen open.
- Maximum capacity: 92 persons indoors, 14 on the patio; patio must stop serving liquor and be vacated by 11 pm nightly; no music or entertainment permitted on the patio.
- Conditions include an acoustic report confirming compliance with noise bylaws, a Time-Limited Development Permit, and a Good Neighbour Agreement with the City.
- One speaker appeared in support; the application complies with current Council policy suspending distance rules for existing restaurants seeking dual licences.
Cold Tea Restaurant Dual Licence Endorsement
1193 Granville Street- Cold Tea Restaurant at 1193 Granville Street applied for a dual licence to operate as a bar after 10 pm; hours would run to 2 am Sunday to Thursday and 3 am Friday to Saturday.
- Maximum capacity: 150 persons indoors, 50 on the patio; patio liquor service ends and must be vacated by 11 pm nightly; no patio music or entertainment.
- Same standard conditions apply: acoustic report, Time-Limited Development Permit, Good Neighbour Agreement.
- Adopted on consent without separate debate.
Hamburger Mary's Dual Licence Endorsement
1202 Davie Street- Hamburger Mary's Davie Ltd. at 1202 Davie Street (Davie Village) applied for a dual licence to operate as a bar after 10 pm, closing at 2 am seven days a week.
- Maximum capacity: 68 persons indoors, 40 on the patio; no patio music or entertainment permitted.
- Standard conditions apply: acoustic report, Time-Limited Development Permit, Good Neighbour Agreement.
- Adopted on consent without separate debate.
Landfill Gasworks Contract Award
Carried Details
- Council authorized a three-year prequalified contractor program for gasworks and leachate services at the Vancouver Landfill in Delta, with an estimated total value of $13 million plus taxes.
- The previous open-tender approach had caused problems including safety incidents, quality issues, missed deadlines, and legal disputes; a prequalified list of five vendors is intended to improve reliability and competition.
- Staff will be able to award individual contracts under this program without returning to Bid Committee or Council for each one, representing a deviation from standard procurement policy.
- Councillor Montague declared a conflict of interest and left the meeting for this item; Councillor Carr abstained.
2023 Property Taxation Relief Programs
Carried Details
- Council approved a pilot Development Potential Relief Program (DPRP) for approximately 1,360 eligible Light Industry (Class 5) and Business and Other (Class 6) properties, reducing the general purpose tax rate on a portion of assessed land value by 50%.
- The relief targets properties where assessed value has been driven up by development potential rather than their current use, creating significant tax burdens for tenants of small businesses, arts organizations, and non-profits on triple-net leases.
- The percentage of land value subject to the reduced rate varies by neighbourhood and zoning district (5% to 55%), capped at $5.4 million in assessed value; property owners must notify their tenants of the relief and submit a written declaration to the City by March 31, 2023.
- Council also approved targeted 5-year land assessment averaging for eligible residential, light industry, and business properties whose assessments rose more than 10 percentage points above the class average, helping smooth out sudden large tax increases.
- Properties that applied for or received upzoning at their own initiative are not eligible for averaging; properties receiving DPRP relief are also excluded from averaging.
- Staff directed to consult Business Improvement Associations, the Board of Trade, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and arts and non-profit partners to evaluate the pilot and explore future improvements; staff also directed to work with the Province and BC Assessment on longer-term data and implementation challenges.
- Three speakers appeared in support of the program.
Council Approval of Committee Recommendations
Carried Details
- Full Council (convened immediately after the committee adjourned) ratified all five recommendations from the Standing Committee on City Finance and Services.
Agenda documents (7)
AGENDA ITEMS
1. 901 Granville Street – Cinema Public House Ltd (“Cinema Restaurant”) Dual Licence – Liquor Primary Licence Application Liquor Establishment – Class 2
2. 1193 Granville Street – Cold Tea Restaurant Ltd (“Cold Tea Restaurant”) Dual Licence – Liquor Primary Licence Application Liquor Establishment – Class 2
3. 1202 Davie Street – Hamburger Mary’s Davie Ltd (“Mary’s on Davie”) Dual Licence – Liquor Primary Licence Application Liquor Establishment – Class 2
4. Contract Award for Prequalified Contractors for Landfill Gasworks Program
5. 2023 Property Taxation: Development Potential Relief and Targeted Land Assessment Averaging
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
Vote matrix
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Sim🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Christine Boyle🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Adriane Carr🥜 | Y | Y | Y | A | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Lisa Dominato🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Pete Fry🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Sarah Kirby-Yung🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Mike Klassen🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Peter Meiszner🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Brian Montague🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Lenny Zhou🥜 | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Rebecca Bligh🥜 |