Council takes heat over Hess Village expansion
February 09, 2009
Nicole MacIntyre
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/article/510402
Hess Village is growing despite police warning the entertainment district is already “over saturated.”
City councillors voted today to allow Smooth Herman’s to add 90 seats to its patio on George Street.
It’s just the latest expansion for the bar district that Councillor Brian McHattie believes is out of control.
“I think it’s entirely possible that someone is going to die.”
But Smooth Herman’s owner Paul Pappas urged council not to punish his business for problems he says are created by nightclubs.
The sports bar originally requested 249 seats on its patio, nearly five times the number allowed under the city’s bylaw.
With a planning fight looming at the Ontario Municipal Board, city staff endorsed 90 seats as a compromise both sides could accept.
But police and residents urged council to continue the battle, arguing the neighbourhood can’t handle one more licensed seat.
“Hess has reached and surpassed its saturation point,” said Staff Sergeant Mark Cox, who came armed with statistics to prove his point.
Five years ago, the village was licensed for roughly 3,100 patrons. Last year it was approaching 4,600, with five additional bars.
On weekends, Cox said, there are often six or more police officers called to the area, in addition to the 10 paid duty officers already patrolling. The cost of paid patrols are shared between the police and bar owners, but Cox said it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find officers willing to take the shifts.
Several officers, he said, have been attacked by young drunken patrons. Hess Village encourages misbehaviour because its large crowds allow for anonymity and create a mob mentality, Cox said.
“Social norms basically become suspended.”
From 2007 to 2008, police saw the number of assaults in Hess jump from 24 to 32. The mischief reports went from three to 13 and theft reports from three to 19.
Residents in the surrounding neighbourhoods often wake up to drunken patrons walking the streets after closing time, said Sarah Matthews, president of the Durand Neighbourhood Association. Car mirrors have been broken and planters stolen, and public urination is common, she said.
“There just has to come a point where you say enough is enough.”
But Pappas argued his patrons aren’t the troublemakers.
“We don’t have fights in our establishment,” he said, committing to work with police and neighbourhood groups.
City staff cautioned councillors that the likelihood of stopping any expansion was slim because of the compromise on the table. If council voted to continue the fight, the city would need to hire outside planners to argue the case.
Four councillors — McHattie, Bob Bratina, Scott Duvall and Sam Merulla — opposed the deal.
McHattie wants the city to put a temporary ban on new bars and restaurants in the area until the city can develop a long-term solution. There are rumours, he said, that three other bars are expanding.
The ban was shot down by Bratina, who fears it would affect other developments the city wants to encourage in the area.
Councillors agreed to have staff report back on ways to address the village’s issues through planning, licensing or increased policing.
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