The Vancouver Sun reported this week that Kitsilano’s Lola’s Bar located at 2291 West Broadway is ranked #1 in terms of police calls. A city hall report stated that Lola’s “generates far more police-dispatched calls than any other liquor establishments on the west side.”
Could it really be that bad? It is.
According to the report the number of police-dispatched calls related to Lola’s outnumbered those related to the Regal Beagle pub (in the same West Broadway block) by 12 to 1.
According to Vancouver police spokesman Constable Lindsey Houghton, there were 50 police calls about disturbances at Lola’s in 2010 and have been 46 so far this year.
The Vancouver Sun article is eliciting some banter in its comment section – good and bad.
“Coachrich” sums it up best and his suggestion that sacrificing Lola’s for the sake of the Regal Beagle might be what’s best for Kits.
This location has been a problem for long time Kitsies for over 2 decades. It has to do with it being the largest bar who’s “primary focus is “dancing/drinking” in the community. Hence it attracts it’s specific clientèle.
Best thing to do is pull it’s licence due to it’s problems and before the senior’s apartment at Vine and 8 th or 2 building down the alley is finished spring 2012. Once the seniors are moved in the number of complaints will sky rocket due to the rowdy behaviour as it impacts the seniors health.
IMO the best thing for this intersection of Kits is to loose Lola’s and keep the Beagle at it’s current size and hours. Seniors and the neighbours deserve their rights to have a peaceful and protected neighbourhood. The rowdy types will move on to the next unregulated drinking establishment.
Photo: Glenn Baglo, PNG
Last modified: December 13, 2011
I was in attendance at the ‘Vancouver Election: Candidates Meeting on November 12th at the The Kitsilano Neighbourhood House. Most of the patrons there seem to agree that the Regal beagle and Lola’s are nuisance and a constant disturbance. There was a lot of questions about rezoning of this area and modifying opening hours.
It’s a shame, because it’s probably only a handle of inconsiderate yobs that are making it a pain for everyone else.
“Most of the patrons there seem to agree that the Regal beagle and Lola’s are nuisance and a constant disturbance”
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Most of the attendees @ that meeting had No Clue-the police report clearly shows that the issues lie with Lola’s and not Regal Beagle-which attracts quite a different crowd.
This is crap. Getting fed up with these Nimby people always complaining about this and that. If you don’t like, then move far away from the city. Think before you buy a home in a neighbourhood. No business should be forced to close because some of some complaining people. The area is quiet at night.
These same people complained when a larger moderne liquor store was proposed for Maple and West Broadway. Now Kitsilano is stuck with an antiquated old little liquor store that will close soon.
I’d be interested in hearing other ideas for how to overcome this problem. Is there anything the management @ Lola could be doing that they haven’t tried? Perhaps some negotiation could be setup between representatives of the community and Lola.
“Seniors and the neighbours deserve their rights to have a peaceful and protected neighbourhood.”
“Rights” are a tricky thing. What about the rights of the “dancing/drinking” crowd?
I have been a neighbour of Lolas’s, previously the Side Door, for almost 30 years. My car has been vandalized by Lola’s patrons, my garden urinated, my sleep disrupted. Some years there are more incidents (it is usually worse in the summer), some years less. I cannot remember a year without any incident.
I have often wondered why is it that Side Door-Lola’s have been such a problem for the neighbourhood. Did other people living close to a Pubs experience the same problems as I? I was a bit puzzled that I did not hear or read much about them.
The article in today’s Vancouver Sun was quite eye opening. The last paragraph indicates that there were 145 police calls related to Lola’s, more than 7 times more than any other Kitsilano area pub, or the non-pub adjacent neighbour the Regal-Beagle, that now intends to become a pub.
Why the difference? Why so many problems with Lola’s compared to similar establishments? Is Lola’s management so much so inefficient, so callous? Do they disregard the surrounding neighbourhood so much? Do they not care the suspensions they may face suspensions? Do they not care that one day they may be permanently closed down? And what is most puzzling, how is it possible that this situation has persisted, never really improved, the past 30+ years?
I believe today’s Sun article gives a possible (probable?) answer to the puzzle. The other five “no big problem” Kitsilano area pubs are located more or less in the centre of the commercial zone. The sixth one, eternal nuisance Lola’s is the one exception. It is at the end of the Commercial zone, almost at the corner of Broadway and Vine. When it closes its doors at 1 or 2 in the morning its patrons wander along residential streets, under the sleeping neighbourhood’s windows while the “no big problem” Kitsilano pubs’ patrons end their party window shopping along busy commercial streets’ lighted storefronts, without really bothering anybody.
In other words, Lola’s (and originally the Side Door) is in the wrong location. The approval of a Pub License in that location ages ago was a mistake. And now its almost adjacent neighbour the Regal Beagle is asking Council to make the same mistake and exacerbate the neighbourhood’s problems.
It seems that Regal Beagle, one site East, has not been a major problem till now. But that is because it is not a pub. Once it receives a Pub License it is very likely that it will become as much of a problem as Lola’s. And it is quite possible that the two pubs together, now a very attractive drinking destination, will become a real problem, much worse than what we experience now. Business may improve for Lola’s and Regal Beagle, but at the expense of the neighbourhood’s peace and quiet (and probably property values).
And we have also to keep in mind that once a Pub Licence is given it is very hard to remove it. Despite 30+ years of being a constant source of problems for neighbours and police Lola’s has kept its license.
The “Seniors Apartment” is a BC housing development… I’m sure a few of it’s inhabitants would love to be close to a place that generates so much traffic to panhandle and beg
I live right by Lola’s… Noise has never been an issue with myself