Many thanks to Frances Bula for this item. It’s got a lot of stuff: a treasured local shop under threat, or not; the City (Councilor Geoff Meggs) riding to a sort-of rescue; a sad origin story; partisan political bashing (in the comments). All that’s missing is “War on the . . . . (what?) quiche?”
So what is Le Marche St. George (in their own words)?
Le Marché St George is a corner store, a café, a meeting place, and a home. It’s a husband, wife, and daughter, a sister, a best friend, an aunt, 3 chickens, 2 cats, a fish and 2 bee hives who all reside here. It’s a place where everyone is welcome. It’s seeing the neighbourhood kids growing up together. It’s love stories that have lead to happily-ever-afters. It’s where the mothers and fathers come to relax with their kids. It’s first dates and first babies. It’s running groups and knitting groups, community vineyards, and mariachi bands. It’s keeping spare keys to the neighbours houses, It’s honest people who work long hours. It’s a funky, handsome, all-crooked, old building where all of this is happening… and we want to keep it that way!
And in the words of the owner (Pascal Roy):
“We’re allowed to sell porn magazines, cigarettes, lotto tickets, no problem — but I’m not allowed to sell a crepe,” said Le Marché St. George co-owner Pascal Roy.
“The city licenses brothels, they license pot shops, and I’m going to get closed down because I’m selling quiche.”
And from the City:
The City is always looking to update outdated bylaws to enhance quality of neighbourhoods and support local independent markets and cafes, and looks forward to working with the owners to ensure the market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.
And another view of all this, from a fun and penetrating perspective by Andrew Morrison at Scout Magazine (thanks to Ian for this Item from Ian). The author may have badly mischaracterized the original complainant, but a lot of the rest is nice writing.
Rules aside, Le Marche St. George was singled out as one of the best neighbourhood spots in the world by Monocle Magazine back in 2011 (disclosure: I wrote the piece). Monocle’s companion video (above, starts 5.05) does well in capturing the essence of the store, so if you’ve never been before you should press play. The headline of that issue’s front page feature was ironic in retrospect. It read: “What does it take to make a city both livable and lively?” It’s a fine question, and I don’t have the answer, but it seems obvious to me that when something works so well at bringing community together, it needs to be encouraged, not hindered. Le Marche St. George is an asset, not a problem. It should be treated accordingly, and have the rules changed to afford it the ability to operate unmolested, as is.
“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.”
more at http://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/update-on-le-marche-st-george.aspx
I live a few blocks from this cafe. It is exactly the kind of thing Vancouver needs to break up the monotonous single family areas. We need more of this!!
I’m sure there’s some bureaucratic planner complaining that the site is too small for the level of “programming” for which the site is used.
It was a neighbour’s complaint – probably annoyed that some people were enjoying themselves too much.
Actually the original complaint was from a neighbor who is visually impaired and was having a hard time navigating the cluttered sidewalk. That’s the thing, when you encourage people to walk you need to be prepared to have appropriate infrastructure. Being a hipster hangout doesnt earn you a free pass. It’s a shame the city doesn’t put half the effort they do into bike lanes into ensuring sidewalks are level and kept clear!
This is a great example of how social pressure can work on politicians and therefore staff. Now, if they could just turn their minds to a burning issue like, say, the Central Waterfront.
Frank, I think it’s telling that what’s a ‘burning issue’ to some isn’t to others. Clearly this story resonates with people. ‘Just another tower’ downtown doesn’t, despite the hang wringing from architects.
Don – I get that. Just contrasting City Hall’s jumping all over the Le Marche thing and not the rather large waterfront one which, BTW, is not just about another tower.
But one would involve the commitment of significant funds, whereas the other doesn’t.
And this doesn’t involve contractual matters between private parties (like the Waldorf case).
I know, hence the quotations. But you get what I’m saying. The tower thing is a long drawn on process whereas the cafe is a quick fix, it’s easy to act on.