Looser booze rules a silver lining?

Relaxed permit process could be a COVID legacy

The need for more social distancing in the time of COVID-19 is pushing Vancouver to take steps toward becoming more like other world cities, where adults can enjoy an al fresco cocktail, hopefully without an accompanying hockey riot.

Last week, Vancouver launched a temporary expedited patio program, after city council’s direction three weeks earlier, aiming to help restaurants and breweries whose businesses have been hammered by the pandemic. Within days, 14 permits were issued, with dozens more being processed.

Outside Provence Marinaside, a French restaurant on Yaletown’s south shore, a temporary 20-seat patio now serves patrons in the space previously occupied by four roadside parking spots.

Jean-Francis Quaglia, Provence’s head chef and owner, applauds the temporary patio program but hopes the city keeps moving further in this direction. Quaglia’s new patio expansion, for example, is separated from the False Creek waterfront by Marinaside Crescent, a roadway with traffic and parking. In his hometown, the French seaport city of Marseille, it would be considered bizarre to have cars cutting off such places for people from the waterfront.

There’s ample underground parking nearby, he said, and no compelling reason anyone needs to drive on that roadway, which could be instead opened up to people strolling, rolling and sitting. “What are we afraid of?” Quaglia asked. “Take away these cars, I don’t want them.”

Provence applied for its permit last Monday, received it Wednesday, had construction underway Thursday, and was serving dinner on their new expanded patio Friday. That timeline may sound unusual for those who have experienced the delays and red tape that often accompany dealing with city hall.

Green Coun. Michael Wiebe said he hopes that coming out of the current health crisis “one of the silver linings is the city is going to treat its small-business owners differently going forward.” Wiebe knows these issues firsthand: one of the first 14 patio permits last week went to his restaurant, Eight1/2. Permit-approval decisions are made by city staff in the engineering and licensing departments, and not voted on by city councillors.

Along with fellow Green Coun. Pete Fry, Wiebe introduced a motion last week seeking to allow alcohol consumption in designated public spaces under city jurisdiction. That motion was defeated, but now might have a second life, after Non-Partisan Association Coun. Lisa Dominato indicated this week she plans to introduce a motion to revisit the matter. Dominato, who voted against the motion last week, said this week she had reconsidered the issue after hearing more feedback from the public and business associations.

When Dominato and her fellow NPA councillors opposed the public-drinking motion last week, some cited concerns raised by public health experts, who had cautioned the pandemic is linked to increased problem drinking and alcohol-related hospitalizations. Those are, of course, serious concerns.

But, Wiebe said, the city will be closely tracking what works and doesn’t work during these pandemic pilot programs, tracking metrics like complaints to the city’s 311 phone line and calls to police, alongside feedback from businesses and neighbours. Those findings will help determine what changes last beyond the pandemic.

“This is the best time for us to try these things out, and it’s also a time for the public to demonstrate their ability to function under these new circumstances. Because if we have major issues with them, it’s going to be really hard as a city to move forward with making them permanent,” Wiebe said. “But as long as we do this right, we’ll be able to do more.”

Many Vancouverites — including struggling restaurateurs, public-space advocates, neighbourhood business associations and thirsty newspaper reporters — hope if we don’t mess up this chance with loutish behaviour, some of these changes can outlast the summer of COVID.