Community members in Vancouver will soon have the chance to tell city council how they feel about wine sales in local grocery stores.
A public hearing is scheduled for Thursday to discuss a possible change to the city’s zoning bylaw to allow it.
Five years ago, Vancouver allowed grocery stores to set up separate liquor operations in their locations but only one store did so.
Now, staff are recommending allowing grocery stores to stock wine on their shelves.
However, the province has only issued 33 wine-on-shelf permits in just 20 communities across B.C., and has frozen any new permits. Thus, any licenses in Vancouver would have to be moved from another community.
Vancouver city staff said in a report that based on feedback from existing licensees, they anticipate some interest in businesses relocating to Vancouver to sell wine, but “not a large uptake at this time.”
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