Community groups that want to have alcohol at their events will soon have a better idea of which locations are eligible and which require discretionary approval from city council.
During its Feb. 24 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to adopt an updated alcohol use events policy (city parks and buildings/facilities) that better aligns with practices and procedures as used by the City of Moose Jaw and the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA).
Groups submit many requests to city hall throughout the year to have alcohol at events, a report from city administration explained. The parks and recreation department believes identifying eligible locations for commonly approved alcohol use events and identifying discretionary use locations in which council approval is required is a process that has worked and should remain in place.
Background
Council adopted the previous alcohol use policy in June 2007, which the parks and recreation advisory board had recommended after several public requests to allow events with alcohol to occur in Crescent Park. When council adopted the outdoor events policy last July, the parks department indicated amendments to the alcohol-use event policy would come forward since they were outdated and did not accurately reflect the buildings, amenities, or parks that exist.
Under the new policy, eligible locations are sites where “beer gardens” have been commonly approved in the past, have operated with minimal or no issues, and are primarily used or accessed by people over age 19, the report continued.
Meanwhile, the locations that are discretionary use are sites where beer gardens may not have been approved in the past due to the nature of the site or event, and the number of youths who may be present.
There is no mention in the updated policy document of Main Street, which is concerning since there are sometimes beer gardens in conjunction with Sidewalk Days, said Coun. Scott McMann. He wondered if that was covered in another policy.
Any areas not listed in the policy are considered discretionary use, explained Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development. User groups would bring the request to city hall and city administration would bring it to council for approval.
Policy updates
According to the report, some items in the policy that have been updated include:
- The policy name of alcohol use events policy (city parks and facilities) has been updated and the definitions have been updated to reflect the new name;
- Approval factors have been added that would be considered within the general principles section to ensure the site and type of event, the history of the event and the main focus of events is considered when applications are approved;
- The list of eligible parks, buildings and facilities has been updated to remove the Civic Centre and replace it with Mosaic Place;
- The TransCanada Ball Diamonds have also been removed as they are primarily used for youth events;
- YaraCentre and Tatawaw Park have been added to the discretionary use locations list;
- The application process and procedures have been clearly identified for eligible and discretionary use spots;
- The conditions of approval section has been updated to reflect the requirements of the municipality’s outdoor events policy adopted last July;
- The insurance requirements have been updated to reflect the current municipal liability requirements;
- The timeline for events section has been removed and incorporated into the procedure section;
- A section regarding responsibilities has been added to clearly identify the respective roles related to the policy.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, March 9.
