ALCOHOL AND GAMING COMMISSION OF ONTARIO
IN THE MATTER OF The: Liquor Licence Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L.19, as amended
B E T W E E N:
Registrar, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
Registrar
-and-
Yvonne Rosemarie Stephenson operating or intending to operate as Nick’s
Applicant
DECISION
Panel: Dianne Axmith, Board Member Alex McCauley, Board Member
Decision Date: October 24, 2008
Hearing Location: Toronto, Ontario
Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario 90 Sheppard Avenue East, Suite 300 Toronto ON M2N 0A4 Phone: (416) 326-0366 Fax: (416) 326-5566 Toll Free In Ontario: 1-800-522-2876 Website: www.agco.on.ca
Appearances
Registrar, Alcohol and Gaming Commission ) Joyce Taylor, Representative Yvonne Rosemarie Stephenson, Applicant ) Jerry Levitan, Representative
The Application
1The Registrar of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (“AGCO”) issued a Notice of Proposal number 16458 dated July 9, 2008 to review an application for licence by Yvonne Rosemarie Stephenson (the “Applicant”) operating or intending to operate as NICK’S, formerly known as Island Pride Plus, 49 Kennedy Road South, Unit 5, Brampton, Ontario, L6W 4P4 (the “Premises”), establishment number 806481, on the basis that the AGCO has received one or more written objections to the application from residents of the municipality. A hearing of the application was held on October 21, 2008, in the City of Toronto.
Preliminary Matters
2Registrar's Representative Ms. Joyce Taylor stated that the Registrar was not taking a position in this matter and informed the Board that no objectors had as yet shown up to testify.
3The Board noted that of the nine letters of objection provided to the panel, only one (from Caber Management Services Inc.) had been received within the stated deadline of May 21, 2008. It was also noted that the other eight objections were in fact form letters. The letter from Caber Management was entered as Exhibit #1.
4On behalf of the Applicant, Mr. Levitan provided the Board with 13 letters (Exhibit #2) of support. He also noted that six supporters of the application were in the hearing room.
5The Board called Ms. Kristina Krause, Case Management Coordinator of the AGCO Hearings Department, who testified that letters had been mailed on October 3, 2008 to each objector advising them of the scheduled hearing.
Decision
6After considering all the evidence, the Board APPROVES the application. Reasons follow.
Reasons
7No objector appeared at the hearing to provide testimony about why the Applicant should not be granted a licence. The Board was persuaded that the objectors had been properly notified of the scheduled hearing based on testimony from Ms. Krause of the AGCO Hearings Department. The Registrar took no position on the matter.
8Furthermore, the Applicant appeared to have support from a sufficient number of neighbourhood residents both in writing and in person.
9Under the Liquor Licence Act (“LLA”), an applicant is entitled to a liquor licence unless there are sufficient reasons to deny that application. In this case none was forthcoming despite the fact that the Board delayed the hearing for over 30 minutes in order to give any such objector time to appear.
Order
10For the above reasons the Board APPROVES the Application for a liquor licence made by Yvonne Rosemarie Stephenson for total indoor capacity of 54 persons for NICK’S, formerly known as Island Pride Plus, 49 Kennedy Road South, Unit 5, Brampton, L6W 4P4, establishment number 806481, subject to the filing of all usual and required municipal clearance letters and application requirements.
DATED AT TORONTO THIS 24th DAY OF OCTOBER, 2008.
DIANNE AXMITH, BOARD MEMBER ALEX MCCAULEY, BOARD MEMBER
DA/cp