Vancouver could soon allow drinking in parks as board set to vote
Posted July 6, 2020 8:33 am.
Last Updated July 6, 2020 8:37 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The park beers are so close, you can almost taste them.
The Vancouver Park Board is set to vote on a pilot program Monday night which would make alcohol consumption legal in 10 parks until the end of the Thanksgiving long weekend in October.
Drinking would be allowed from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. every day in designated areas that will be marked off in select parks, which are scattered throughout the city.
They include Queen Elizabeth Park, Stanley Park, Locarno Beach Park, Vanier Park, Harbour Green Park, New Brighton Park, Quilchena Park, Fraser River Park, Memorial South Park, and Trout Lake.
The Vancouver Park Board has listed 10 parks that could be part of a pilot project allowing alcohol consumption in public. (Courtesy Vancouver Park Board.)
“The discussion around allowing alcohol consumption in parks has become more timely in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the physical distancing required in response,” the Vancouver Park Board’s report reads. “The pandemic has limited the ability of Vancouverites to socialize with their friends and family, however as restrictions in B.C. ease public health officials advise that socializing outdoors at safe distances reduces risk of virus transmission.”
If the pilot project is approved, the provincial government will be roped in to amending the B.C. Liquor Control and Licensing Act, which currently doesn’t include the Park Board as an authority to create a by-law for legal liquor consumption.
The City of North Vancouver and Port Coquitlam have already passed similar plans. The City of Vancouver passed a motion last month to direct staff to come up with a report, looking into where drinking could be allowed on city property, such as plazas.
