It’s not the role of the local government to investigate whether a restaurant should get a liquor licence, two representatives of Sparks Kitchen + Bar told Richmond city council.
In fact, the “fit and proper person” to determine whether the licence should be granted is the general manager of the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, said Bert Hick with Rising Tide Consultants.
Spark Kitchen + Bar, currently a food-primary restaurant on Alexandra Road, has applied to become a liquor-primary establishment with karaoke in private rooms and onstage with a capacity of 150 patrons.
According to a Richmond city staff report, Yan Wendy Zhang owned Solo Karaoke on Kingsway, just west of Gilley Avenue in Burnaby, under a different corporation.
There were nine complaints to Burnaby city staff about Solo’s operations, with claims of alcohol consumption, smoking as well as noise complaints. There were allegedly also unstamped vaping products on the premises.
Solo Karaoke's licence was revoked in 2023, and an appeal to Burnaby city council failed to reverse this decision.
Richmond city council gave its blessing for the liquor-primary licence — which has to be issued by the Liquor Branch — two weeks ago, but when information came to light that the owner had had issues with a similar establishment in Burnaby, Richmond city staff reversed its recommendation of approval.
City council was considering the new recommendation at Monday’s committee meeting during which Spark representatives presented the restaurant’s side of the story.
Hick said the ultimate decision is for the liquor branch to make and that city council should just look at noise, traffic impact, parking, zoning and community input.
Zhang, who owned Solo Karaoke, had “bad staff and bad management” at her previous establishment, Hick told city council.
“She paid the price to the City of Burnaby and they cancelled her business licence, and she learned from her mistakes,” he added.
Noah Lal, a lawyer representing the company, also reiterated the point that it’s the liquor branch’s general manager who has the authority to grant the liquor licence and city council shouldn’t “supersede its authority.”
He pointed out a review was done and everything was in order — referring to the first report from city staff.
“We had additional investigations, which were not needed and that exceeded the scope of what it should have been limited to initially.”
The city’s solicitor, Tony Capuccinello Iraci, however, said he disagreed with the restaurant’s representatives that it’s not the city’s business to look into other conduct.
“I would say absolutely the past conduct of the operating mind or the same business owner in another municipality of a similar business is certainly relevant,” Capuccinello Iraci said.
And if the liquor branch's general manager disagrees with the city’s position, they’ll have to give a rationale, he added.
“I don’t see the legislation as limiting,” he said. “It says you must consider certain criteria but it does not limit the criteria and I think that’s a fundamental difference, in my opinion.”
Lal said governments must be “reasonable” and it’s not the job of each level of government to “police applicants.”
“Considering unrelated information prior to making a decision will render that decision unreasonable and that can even be quashed later if we go to the extent of judicial review,” Lal said.
This investigation shouldn’t have happened in the first place, he added, and it was “improper” and “too broad.”
“The fit and proper assessment had been done, there was no impact on the community, noise levels — no issue, and there were also no objections raised,” Lal told city council.
When Coun. Laura Gillanders asked Hick who was responsible for procuring the alleged unstamped vaping products, Hick repeated that Zhang had “bad management and staff.”
“You know that’s not an excuse,” Mayor Malcolm Brodie responded to this defence.
City council voted unanimously to not recommend the liquor-primary licence for Spark Kitchen + Bar, reversing its recommendation from two weeks ago.
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