Wetaskiwin shuts liquor stores at 10 p.m.

A Wetaskiwin liquor store owner says she will lose $40,000 a month after city council passed a bylaw Monday to close liquor stores at 10 p.m. to improve the city’s image and reduce its high crime rate.

Darlene Clayton, owner of Darlene’s Liquor Store, said she will have to lay off one of four employees at the beginning of January, when she will have to starting locking her doors at 10 p.m. instead of 2 a.m.

"I’ll lose thousands, thousands of dollars," Clayton said. "It’s just kind of taking away our rights. This is supposed to be free enterprise."

Councillors said they hope the bylaw, which comes into effect Jan. 1, will address vagrancy and alcohol-related problems in Wetaskiwin.

Local RCMP believe more than 70 per cent of their time is spent addressing alcohol-related problems, including bar fights, public intoxication, domestic violence and impaired driving, said Wetaskiwin Mayor Don Montgomery. The city’s pawn shops and alcohol delivery services will also have to close at 10 p.m. under the new bylaw.

Ald. Gail Taylor said despite complaints from the local business owners, the bylaw isn’t anti-business.

"It’s a very contentious issue, obviously… council has been threatened, council has in essence been bullied over this issue," Taylor said at Monday’s meeting.

Most customers who purchase alcohol between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. at her store are not vagrants, Clayton said. "This will affect the working people, the taxpayers … we live in a 24-hour society," she said.

Wetaskiwin’s Siding 16 Spirits manager Murray Hay said the majority of the city’s vagrants purchase alcohol from him early in the day, and other customers will simply find another way to buy after 10 p.m.

"Instead, people will say, ‘OK, I’ll drive 10 minutes to Millet,’ " he said.

The new bylaw will likely result in an increase in bootlegging in the community, Clayton said.

Council initially considered an 8 p.m. closing time, but amended the bylaw after complaints from liquor store and pawnshop owners. "The final bylaw is a compromise," Montgomery said. "The liquor stores were not totally happy with a 10 p.m. closing time, but there are others in the community who would have preferred 8 p.m."

Outlets that fail to comply will be subject to a series of fines and could eventually lose their business licence. "Wetaskiwin isn’t alone in facing these types of problems," Montgomery said. "Hopefully this will bring down our crime rate. I think it’s just a matter of people adjusting their lifestyle."

ciltan@thejournal.canwest.com

kgerein@thejournal.canwest.com