Don’t stop the funk – at least not until 2 a.m. on the weekend.
At an Oct. 23 meeting, City of North Vancouver council voted unanimously to grant later service hours to House of Funk Brewing, one of a growing number of like businesses in the Lower Lonsdale brewery district.
Pending a successful application to B.C.’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, the brewery will be able to extend its closing hours until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 12 a.m. Sunday to Thursday – currently, the closing hours are 11 p.m. and 8 p.m. respectively.
If approved by the LCRB, House of Funk would enter into a good neighbour agreement with the city, where the brewery would take steps to minimize disruption to the surrounding area, especially at later hours.
Speaking to council ahead of the vote, brewery owner Darren Hollett said that currently customers ultimately have to travel downtown to continue their weekend evenings out at around 11 p.m., when most of the establishments close in the area.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from our customers and those in the area to have extended hours, and we’d love to provide that and keep our people on the North Shore,” he said. “If successful we would commit to being good neighbours.
“Obviously the immediate concern is the hours and the noise that comes along with those, so we would commit to having signage in our washrooms and in our establishment to ensure that people are quiet when they leave,” Hollett continued. “We would ensure to close our doors and have everyone inside by a reasonable hour.”
Expressing his appreciation for Hollett’s remarks, Coun. Tony Valente wondered what would happen if there’s a future change in ownership at the location.
“All of the licences and permits and documents that apply to the business are only applicable to the business and so every new business that may enter into that location would have to apply for, and go through the same process,” said Siobian Smith, manager of economic development for City of North Vancouver.
Coun. Angela Girard noted that a similar application was approved earlier this year, to Copperpenny Distilling Co., and that there had been no issues since extending the hours there.
In the case that problems do arise, Coun. Don Bell asked if there was an avenue for council to cut back the extended hours.
While the provincial regulator governs the conditions of the liquor licence, the city can send a notice to the regulation branch or put condition on the municipal business licence, Siobian said.
Council waived a public hearing for the matter.
