Mat Waldron said allowing liquor sales at Kost Kutters, his favourite barbershop in Duncan, would be a “great idea”.
Waldron, a regular customer at the shop owned by Lloyd Bachynski, said he might get his hair cut more often if he could drink a beer while waiting for his hair cut.
Bachynski agreed, stating that the vast majority of his customers are men, and most of them would welcome the right to buy liquor in the barbershop.
“While I have yet to look into it, having liquor sales in the shop sounds like it would be a lot of fun,” he said while cutting Waldron’s hair.
“Maybe we could get a backgammon table and set up a kind of men’s club here. I think most of my customers would find it awesome.”
Under new provincial legislation that came into effect last month, any business in B.C. can now apply for a liquor licence, unless it caters primarily to minors and/or is based inside a motor vehicle.
Like current liquor laws, establishments serving drinks will have to be certified through the province’s Serving It Right program, which teaches people their legal responsibilities when serving alcohol.
As well, local municipalities will have to approve of businesses that want to serve liquor.
But not all businesses in the region think serving liquor on their premises is a good idea.
Lesley Zurrer, owner of Duncan’s Embellish! Home Decor, said she’s not interested in serving liquor in her store.
She said the business doesn’t provide a “party atmosphere” that is conducive to serving liquor.
“We sometimes have wine at evening functions at the store, but I can see problems if we begin selling liquor to customers,” Zurrer said.
“Besides the obvious problems related to having people drinking liquor in our comfortable chairs, we would need servers, a dishwasher, glasses and a storage area. My business wouldn’t be enhanced by allowing this.”
Sarah Hurson, owner of Duncan’s Bodhi Collective clothing store, said that on the surface, she feels selling liquor in the store could present a better shopping experience for her customers.
“But I would be concerned about liability if people were to drive after drinking here,” she said.
“I think it would be a tough balance, for sure.”
The changes in liquor policy come after a years-long review of the province’s liquor laws and a report that included 73 recommendations for new legislation.
“During the policy review, we heard from thousands of British Columbians who expressed a desire for a more common sense approach to our liquor laws,” said John Yap, B.C.’s parliamentary secretary for liquor review policy.
Yap said the changes create flexibility for consumers and allow businesses to explore new revenue streams.
Other new liquor regulations allow people at golf courses to take their drinks from one service area to another, and hotels to give guests a complimentary check-in drink.
The provincial changes to liquor policy come on the heels of a decision by the Municipality of North Cowichan to not allow the sale of liquor in grocery stores after the practice was given the green light by the province.
While staff in North Cowichan had recommended that liquor sales be allowed in local grocery stores, the majority of council felt that the social and health implications of opening more liquor outlets in the community would be too high.
North Cowichan Mayor Jon Lefebure said council has yet to discuss the province’s new legislation allowing liquor sales in businesses, but acknowledged that the new policy signals a “different approach” by the government in regards to liquor laws.
“Personally, my view is that we should treat the issue like they do in Europe where liquor is treated as just another part of life,” Lefebure said.
“But I expect we’ll be having more discussions about these changes to the liquor laws, and I’ll wait to see how I feel on the subject until after those discussions before I make any judgements.”
Lefebure, who is also chairman of the Cowichan Valley Regional District, said there has been no discussion at the board level at this time regarding changes to the province’s liquor laws.
As for Duncan, the city’s director of corporate affairs said it is still assessing the new legislation’s impacts on Duncan, its businesses and residents.
Karen Robertson said that before the new legislation, businesses applying for liquor licences would have to go before the province’s Liquor Control and Licensing Board to assure standard requirements are met before they could apply to the city.
But, under the new legislation, she said applications will go before the LCLB and the city concurrently, and it appears the city will be tasked to assure the requirements are met.
Robertson said, as it stands, Duncan will treat each application for a liquor licence as it always has.
“The city’s current policy on liquor licensing calls for a community consultation process to give people a chance to give their opinion on whether a business and its location is a good fit for a liquor licence,” Robertson said.
“Our policy is to look at each applicant on a case by case basis, and make a decision that takes into consideration how the surrounding neighbourhood feels about it.”
Robert.Barron@cowichanvalleycitizen.com