The Katz Group wants city council to change the bylaws regulating the distance between liquor stores.
Current rules do not allow liquor stores to be within 500 metres of each other, but the Katz Group wants to open one on 103 Street and 103 Avenue – 20 metres away from an existing store – and councillors are considering their request.
“The fact that we haven’t considered population density or the intensification of a part of town in the formula to determine where a liquor store goes is something that we have to change,” Ward 10 councillor Michael Walters said.
Councillors have proposed a report that studies alternative tools to keep social order around liquor stores.
“This 500-metre rule was to deal with social disorder,” Ward 6 councillor Scott McKeen said. “And yet, I see examples where it’s not doing that.”
The Katz Group has not been granted an exception, and council will not make a decision about the 500-metre rule until around June.
With files from Jeremy Thompson
