Boost to nightclub capacity worries police

Provincial tribunal rules against city and residents in granting increase of 830 people to Rebel

Toronto police have significant concerns about a recent licence change that allows Rebel nightclub to entertain an extra 830 people at a time, following a double homicide, a shooting and dozens of assaults at Polson Pier in the last year.

Rebel, at 11 Polson St., beside Cabana Pool Bar on Toronto’s eastern waterfront, can now hold a crowd of up to 4,565 people, according to a decision made last week by the Licence Appeal Tribunal. Toronto police said they learned about the capacity increase when contacted by the Star.

“It cannot be in the interest of public safety for Toronto Police Service to find out about this after it happened, and yes, we do have public safety concerns about what this could mean,” said police spokesperson Mark Pugash.

Charles Khabouth, part owner of Powerhouse Corp., the company that applied for the expansion and liquor licence and operates the entertainment complex, did not respond to requests for comment. Powerhouse lawyer Richard Kulis also didn’t respond.

In the parking lot of Rebel last October, two men in their 20s were shot dead. Police charged two men with seconddegree murder.

During a concert at Rebel in December 2016, police responded to six suspected overdoses, one of them fatal. Other clubgoers who may have overdosed declined treatment and refused to answer questions, the Star reported. Less than six months later, police got calls for three other suspected overdoses at Rebel.

So far this year, 60 reported incidents have occurred in Rebel or nearby on Polson St., including a shooting outside that left a man injured in June, and more than 40 assaults and half a dozen sexual violations and car thefts, according to police data.

Police already put “significant resources” toward addressing incidents in and around Rebel, which ww is why they’re particular- l ly concerned about the increase in capacity, Pugash said. “Our job remains the same, which is to protect public safety, but that doesn’t diminish for a second the concerns we have.”

Powerhouse originally applied for the liquor licence and expansion ee a few years ago, but the tt Registrar of Alcohol, Gam- ing and Racing refused to process it for procedural reasons.

Kulis told the Star in April 2017 that Powerhouse was “seeking to provide entertainment to the patrons that come from inside the city, outside the city, internationally, in a manner that doesn’t disturb either the island residents or the mainland residents.”

Powerhouse appealed to Divisional Court, which ruled in its favour, but Toronto Island resident groups and the City of Toronto objected.

They were most concerned about the second part of Powerhouse’s application, which was to expand outdoor capacity at Cabana Pool Bar, play amplified music mm until 2 a. m. on weekends ( (( the bylaw currently allows on- l ly to 11 p. m.) and generate a lot of noise, said Councillor Paula Fletcher, who’s been working to address Polson Pier noise concerns for more than a decade.

Last year, the case went to the Licence Appeal Tribunal, a provincially vv appointed, quasi- judi- cial body that deals with licence disputes. From residents and the city, the tribunal’s three members heard about some of the tt incidents that had occurred in or near Rebel, including the double homicide.

The tribunal wrote in its decision, “We are not persuaded that ttt hat the the incidents present permitted ... indicate number nn of patrons in Rebel is unmanageable or the conditions unsafe.” When asked about that statement, the tribunal said it was unable to provide further comment.

Fletcher had asked that Rebel be required to follow conditions to prevent and treat overdoses — including having an ambulance aa on site during elec- tronic dance music events — but the tribunal declined, saying setting conditions beyond the tt sale of alcohol wasn’t within its authority. y

But there was also good news, she said. For Cabana Pool Bar, the tribunal ruled in favour of residents, denying Powerhouse the ability to expand its outdoor capacity beyond 2,510, or to play amplified music outside.

Keeping noise from Polson Pier at bay is what the Toronto Island Noise Committee wanted, chair Lynn Robinson said. “The harbour is where people come to visit and play, but also to live, and outdoor noise is hard to deal with. We just have to have good neighbours.”