A proposal to move an existing liquor store from the Hart to a vacant shop on Queensway has drawn opposition from area residents.
The owners of the Cold Beer and Liquor Store, located at 6475 Hart Hwy., are looking to relocate their existing operation to 1933 Queensway. In order to facilitate the move, Dennison and Dennison Holdings Ltd. Is seeking to rezone the former florist shop from C6: Highway Commercial to C4l: Local Commercial.
City council is expected to hold a public hearing on the proposed rezoning at roughly 7 p.m. on Monday. The city has received 48 letters and emails from residents opposed to the move, ahead of the public hearing.The city has received no emails or letters of support.
In addition, 122 people had signed an online petition at change.org opposing the liquor store as of Friday afternoon.
Millar Addition resident Tammy Hull said adding another liquor store to the area will attract intoxicated people into the neighbouhood, and contribute to more social problems.
“Myself, my husband and children have been a direct target of theft, threats, violence including a man walking up our walkway high on drugs and pointing a firearm at our home. I called 911 and the criminal continued down the road pointing his gun at neighbours until he was apprehended by (RCMP). This is becoming our normal since the tent encampment became a permanent homestead for persons suffering from homelessness and addictions,” Hull wrote. “I used to be able to walk to work, I no longer feel safe. I used to walk in my neighbourhood freely, I no longer feel safe. I am not alone in this reality as neighbours gather to express they no longer feel safe due to the vagrants and thieves.”
The Millar Addition and downtown are “a disgrace and our citizens need services to support a healthy outcomes not another retail outlet to feed into addictions and the social issues,” Hull added.
In an email to the city, area business owner Evann Campbell said denying the application would allow a business that contributes to a healthier neighbourhood to move in instead.
“Please STOP the relocation of an existing liquor retail store to 1933 Queensway. We DO NOT need more liquor or cannabis stores in the area. I just want to safely live and raise my child in this neighborhood, and am finding it increasingly difficult to do so,” Jordan Feenstra wrote in an email.
The area already has two liquor stores which contribute to the social problems in the area, Katherine Sinclair Newton wrote.
“Garbage litters the entire area, people are often seen sleeping and ‘camping out’ for the day or even night, grafitti abound. Our neighborhood faces many challenges already with our close proximity to downtown and areas of the VLA. We struggle to keep our neighborhood respectable, crime free and clean,” she wrote. “We deserve to have a safe, peaceful neighborhood to live in. A liquor store does not contribute any good qualities towards a safe and peaceful neighborhood!”
Iola Cave said the neighbourhood has enough problems with “people wandering our alleys looking for anything they can steal,” starting fires and leaving trash like needles, used condoms, discarded clothes and broken glass for residents to clean up.
Millar Addition resident Anne Rushton said the problems in the area have escalated over the past two years.
“It has become an area where residents no longer feel safe due to the vagrants and thieves that navigate this neighbourhood during the day and the night. Increased crime such as break ins to both residences and vehicles, verbal threats, loitering, littering, sleeping on our lawns, urinating on our property, and the list goes on and on,” Rushton wrote. “I no longer feel safe in my own neighbourhood nor do I feel safe going downtown to support local businesses. The MIllar Addition neighbourhood and the downtown is a disgrace and I am ashamed that these social issues have got to this point.”
Many of the other letters and emails raised the same types of concerns.
A report to city council by the city's administration supports the rezoning.
“The proposed store will utilize an existing vacant building for a commercial retail use. The subject property is located within a mix of commercial and office related uses within the Queensway area,” the report says. “Further to this, the proposed location is adjacent to an arterial road (Queensway), and in close proximity to residential areas for amenity walkability. As this use is complimentary to the Neighbourhood Center Corridor designation, Administration is supportive of this application.”
If the rezoning is successful, the applicant would have to apply to the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch to relocate its liquor license, which would trigger the city’s Liquor License Application process and bring the issue back before city council.
