Reports have trickled out about the hugely popular Marche St. George (28th/St. George) about to lose outdoor seating/right to serve food/right to operate. A sign of the times: City has just issued the following news release. BTW, if the neighbour who complained about the Marche’s operations is ever identified, I would not want to be in his/her shoes.
Update on Le Marche St. George
In response to several media requests, the City would like to clarify that Le Marche St George, a popular local market in East Vancouver, is not about to be shut down by the City. Reports about an imminent closure as early as this weekend are completely false. As stated yesterday, City staff will work with the owners to better understand business practices and look at options to enable the activities at Le Marche St George to continue.
The City values local businesses and wants to increase and enable cafés and patios throughout the city. The Council motion of June 23rd is the latest example of these efforts: http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20150623/documents/motionb5.pdf
Le Marche St George is approved as a grocery store. A recent complaint from a neighbour identified some bylaw issues related to their restaurant and special events. Regulations of food service industry falls to Vancouver Coastal Health. The City is always looking to update outdated bylaws to enhance quality of neighbourhoods and support local independent markets and cafes, and looks forward to working with the owners to ensure the market and its activities can continue.
14 responses so far ↓
1 Carlos Silva // Dec 9, 2015 at 11:28 am
Apparently the neighbour is legally blind, and had trouble navigating the sidewalk under the circumstances. http://thethirtiesgrind.com/2015/12/09/le-marche-st-george-in-danger-of-being-closed-down-is-it-the-owners-fault/
2 Mike Klassen // Dec 9, 2015 at 1:09 pm
Nothing like watching city hall fly into action when you tick off members of Vision Vancouver’s base.
3 Mike // Dec 9, 2015 at 1:21 pm
It doesn’t seem like the sign of a very healthy psyche to criticize the city for doing what you think they should be doing. Maybe time for a step back from the partisanship?
4 Mike // Dec 9, 2015 at 1:24 pm
So as far as I can tell: someone complained about sidewalk encroachment, a bylaw officer did an inspection, and council has said they’ll make sure the bylaws won’t cause the marche to close. Am I missing something? This is what we’re getting all het up about this week?
5 disqus_xFUlOweL5Z // Dec 9, 2015 at 2:45 pm
She was identified, actually. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/marche-st-george-community-rallies-1.3356441
6 peakie // Dec 9, 2015 at 3:12 pm
Really!?
Time for a weekend snooze, (in sunny weather), to see the Entitled lounging about at St. George and 28th. (3 blocks south of Tupper Secondary school for those not in the know).
And yes, they do spill over the sidewalk.
A few paint lines and some courtesy will go a long way.
7 peakie // Dec 9, 2015 at 3:16 pm
type “grocery” into the search box in the upper right hand corner of this FrancesBula blog to see earlier coverage of the uncommon corner grocery stores of the region.
8 Tiktaalik // Dec 9, 2015 at 4:36 pm
There was a widespread impression that the sidewalk encroachment issues lead bylaw enforcement to question whether Marché St George was allowed by their zoning to operate as a cafe. If they business was forced into operating exclusively as a grocery they’d have to close.
9 Kirk // Dec 9, 2015 at 7:13 pm
Glad to see a business license problem won’t shut them down. Tearing it down for a monster home on the other hand….
10 Graham Winterbottom // Dec 10, 2015 at 8:43 am
what seems to be missing from all of this discussion is that the original complaint came from a blind women who could not walk down the sidewalk because of the cafe
11 bikethegrid // Dec 10, 2015 at 8:46 am
what seems to be missing from this whole discussion is that the original complaint came from a blind lady that could not walk down the street safely because of the cafe.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/marche-st-george-community-rallies-1.3356441
12 peakie // Dec 10, 2015 at 3:03 pm
Jason Proctor, who lives near the March St. George, (yet still calls the area “Mount Pleasant” that far south of Broadway) has fun with the story and gets his gentle digs in.
Le Marché St. George, outlaw-quiche and the battle for Vancouver’s soul – British Columbia – CBC News
by Jason Proctor
LINK cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/le-march%C3%A9-st-george-outlaw-quiche-and-the-battle-for-vancouver-s-soul-1.3357702
“…Remember the ‘No Fun City’ days? The pre-craft beer metropolis days?…”
13 AdamFitch // Dec 18, 2015 at 4:47 pm
Mike, I think that you misunderstand Mike Klassen’s comment. It is good political analysis. How often do you see Council address a rather minor bylaw enforcement so quickly and so publicly, and then issue a PRESS release?
Mike Klassen got it right on. It may be a partisan comment, but it also cuts to the meat of the matter. How often does the city call its own bylaws “outdated”? (see the press release).
14 peakie // Dec 20, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Long (3300 words) attempt at clearing up the story of the City versus
Le Marché St. George,
Le Marché St. George,