Rumours that a new Coast Inn of the North liquor store operation has been turned over to a discount chain are unfounded, states a hotel representative.
And RCMP is stating they've sent word to city hall they have no objections to the new business, despite concern expressed by the Downtown Business Improvement Association, Prince George Public Library and a nearby social agency just prior to council's Nov. 29 decision on the matter.
Coast Hotels and Resorts marketing director Sherry Baumgardner dismissed talk that the Liquor Depot or Liquor Barn, two Alberta-based discount chains, will operated the store.
"It sounds like some information's been passed around that's not quite accurate," she said Wednesday.
She reaffirmed that the store will cater to a higher-end market.
"We don't open businesses that are incongruent, that are not in line with our customers," Baumgardner said. "If you look at our other businesses that are in Coast Inn of the North, they fit with our customers so I don't think we would do anything that would not be in alignment."
Asked if a third party will be brought in to operate the store, Baumgardner said: "At this point, all we've done is brought the licence back to Coast Hotels and that's basically end of story."
The Coast Inn of the North won city council approval by a 7-2 vote on Nov. 29 for a temporary commercial use permit to open a liquor store in the old Sgt. O'Flaherty's pub location on the hotel's south side.
A Prince George RCMP inspector expressed no objections to the Coast Inn's application when considered during the usual referral process before taken to city council for final consideration, Prince George RCMP Supt. Brenda Butterworth-Carr said Wednesday.
RCMP spokesperson Craig Douglass said an application will be given a red flag if the applicant has a past of creating trouble.
"Unless there is some strong reason, usually criminality or some kind of a history, then we're not going to object to something like that," Douglass said.
He also noted the store will be operating on the basis of a temporary commercial use permit that will be up for renewal after three years.
"If there are a large amount of complaints to that business, then when they come to renew or apply for a permanent licence, that's when we may object," Douglass said. "And if we did, we would have documentation, we would have reasons for it.
"If we attend numerous times in a shift or if there are clearly management issues or drug issues that's when we would certainly put an objection into them getting a full-time licence."
The licence, held by Okabe North America Ltd. which, in turn, owns the Coast Hotels and Resorts chain, was previously used to operate a liquor store at the Shooter's Sports Bar and Restaurant on Ospika Boulevard, owned by Jordy Hoover.
The Coast secured a waiver from the liquor control and licensing board allowing it to open the store within 1,000 metres of another store, namely the Shooter's outlet in the Redwood Mall on Victoria Street near 15th Avenue, also owned by Hoover.
Hoover did not return calls for comment.
Waivers can be granted when a licence holder loses a location due to circumstances beyond their control, a ministry of public safety and solicitor general has said.
The Coast took the unusual route of seeking a temporary commercial use permit over a full-blown rezoning process when it took the matter to city hall.
Both processes require a hearing to allow the public to voice their concerns but notification is not as stringent for a permit application.
