It's happening!!!!!!!

Downtown crackdown

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Posted By BOB BRUTON BARRIE EXAMINER

Posted 1 day ago

Downtown Barrie could soon get a dose of tougher medicine.

City council decided Monday to take measures aimed at stricter enforcement and influencing liquor licence requests to help control the core's problems.

The city will send the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which issues liquor licences, a request for more enforcement and to convey the city's concerns about over-serving alcohol in downtown bars.

City staff will also investigate the merits of establishing a liquor licence review committee in Barrie, similar to Kitchener's, to look at future applications.

Coun. Jeff Lehman, who represents the downtown, also called for an immediate meeting of all the involved parties -- including the AGCO.

"This motion is far from enough to cure downtown's ills, it is only part of the solution. We need all the parties to come to the table -- the bar owners, the associations, enforcement (police, AGCO, bylaw enforcement)," he said. "As you may know, council supported hiring four additional officers for downtown earlier this year, and the police board is now working on a proposal for security cameras, following the working group meetings I called earlier in the summer. These are also part of the solution."

Lehman said he will be calling the stakeholders Tuesday morning to start working on what can be done to stop what he calls the "closing time chaos" downtown.

"There has been a real need to get all the parties together," he said. "This is a good next step."

The idea is to be proactive, instead of just reactive, where new liquor licences are concerned.

Coun. Alex Nuttall says that liquor licence applications regularly appear on the city's circulation list of weekly correspondence, and council members can always give their opinion on these applications.

But more needs to be done.

"I think we need to stop being reactionary and be proactive in the way we treat liquor licence applications," he said. "I hope for more stringent regulations, in terms of new licences."

Nuttall said, in the same breath, that he doesn't want to paint all drinking establishments in Barrie's downtown with the same brush.

"Those who break the rules should face the consequences, and those who obey should be thanked for operating within the rules," he said.

Whether the AGCO responds to the city's request is another matter. It has five inspectors -- three civilians and two OPP officers -- who work in its central region office -- from Brighton to Collingwood and from Huntsville to Bradford. Inspectors focus on establishments that have had compliance issues in the past.

A local liquor licence review committee could have limited impact, although it's based on a model that has had some success.

More than a decade ago, Kitchener was struggling with about 17,000 bar seats in a 10-block radius in its downtown.

City staff determined the best plan was to use the Liquor Licence Act itself. Clause 6(2)(h) says "a licence may be refused if it 'is not in the public interest having regards to the needs and benefits of the residents of the municipality in which the premises is located'."

So Kitchener established a liquor licensing review committee to oversee any application in the downtown core, using criteria set by its city council. This review and any recommendations are sent to the AGCO, although the application is ultimately the commission's decision. City officials there say Kitchener has had success when opposing a licence by having conditions added or a hearing held on the application.

City police will report back to Barrie's police board about security cameras at its Sept. 21 meeting. Lehman would also like separation distances for future bars, which could be controlled through the zoning bylaw.

The Downtown Neighbourhood Association asked council earlier this month for a six-month ban on any new or expanded downtown bars, saying the area had reached or surpassed a sustainable number of liquor licences for late-night bars and clubs.

Council took no action on the request.

The association has said excessive noise, drunken rowdies, vandals, street fights and sexual assaults are concerns there, and that there's a relation to the high concentration of bars in the downtown.

An Aug. 14 stabbing death in the downtown has heightened concerns, as has a brawl at a bar this past weekend which left two Barrie men cut and injured.

bbruton@thebarrieexaminer.com