Published: April 28, 2009 7:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
Opposition exists to a night club expanding its hours, but it may not be enough to prevent it from occurring. The City of Vernon will not support a bid from On The Roxx Show Lounge to change its start-time from 7 to 4 p.m. but council actually has very little say over the situation. The application is made to the provincial Liquor Control and Licensing Branch. “The liquor board does want input from the city but the final decision is with the liquor inspector,” said Dale Rintoul, city planner. As part of the process, the city surveyed adjacent businesses and property owners about the proposal. “All of the businesses in the area that responded don’t support the change in hours,” said Rintoul. Among the concerns from nearby businesses are noise, traffic and potentially intoxicated patrons.
In a letter to the city, On The Roxx owner Carman Zieman says he has made additions to the business, including a kitchen. “The reason for introducing the food service program to the business is to drive our intended full-line sports programming agenda,” he said. “We are committed to providing a safe and entertaining social venue, as our business record indicates with both the local police and liquor inspector.” Zieman says only televised sports events would be shown until 5:30 p.m. “Our intent is that neighbouring businesses would not be affected by the noise during their daily business hours while fulfilling our desire to attract an untapped area of our business,” he said. Despite Zieman’s assurances, Coun. Mary-Jo O’Keefe insists the concerns of the adjacent businesses must be taken into account particularly when many merchants are struggling during the recession. “A 4 p.m. opening would have a lot of effect on businesses,” she said.
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