A Lower Lonsdale restaurant has applied to the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) to include an endorsement for ‘patron participation in entertainment’ on its current Food Primary license. If approved, the Finch and Barley restaurant could offer open mic, karaoke and dancing until midnight daily, with an extension until 1 am on New Year’s Day.
Finch and Barley is located at 250 East First Street in the City of North Vancouver. Only two other establishments in North Vancouver—Eighties Restaurant on West 14th Street and Seaside Hotel on Victory Ship Way—offer patron-participation entertainment.
According to LCRB’s regulations, those who want to add ‘patron participation entertainment’ must receive approval from the local government. Staff at the City of North Vancouver consider this application reasonable and recommend that the City opt out of the public consultation process and allow LCRB to carry it out.
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The restaurant currently hosts weekly live music and comedy shows and has been serving liquor since it opened in 2011.
Staff note in a report to the council that patron-participation entertainment is consistent with the vision for the Lower Lonsdale neighborhood as a vibrant community destination and maximizes the economic opportunity for small businesses on employment-generating lands.
The restaurant has committed to placing signs in conspicuous locations on the premises, indoors and outdoors, to remind patrons to be respectful of neighbours. Patrons will be guided to wait indoors while waiting for transportation after closing hours. The business intends to host no more than two patron-participation entertainment events per week, and staff have been trained to monitor and control noise levels.
“Business establishments that do not front onto any residences, as in the case of Finch and Barley, are anticipated to have a minimal noise impact on the community in the immediate vicinity of the establishment,” notes a staff report to council.
What a wonderful old concept, re-born! Good for the Finch & Barley folks.
I hope for the business and it’s customers that the City of North Vancouver approves it.