Richm City Council

[silverfish]

 rumours rumours rumours....... where's the "truth?" well~ here's the latest from the RICHMOND REVIEW and the RICHMOND NEWS. so all the "so and so told me" and "(a promoter) told me" stuff can take a back seet for a few minutes. well~ i'm always very skeptable of popular press, but since this is the ONLY information being provided first hand~ take it or leave it.

do what ever you want~ just have a good, safe new years!

 http://www.richmondreview.com/

12/06/2001
Council not raving about party

By Martin van den Hemel
The site may be right, but BridgePoint won’t get council’s nod for a New Year’s Eve rave.

Councillors sided with a staff recommendation and turned down (7-2) an application by undernet.* Services Ltd. head Riel Roussopoulos for the all-night event, which he hoped would end at 8 a.m.

While the all-night rave is off, the party is still on, only the event will end at 2 a.m.

Coun. Bill McNulty said he’s now concerned that as many as 5,000 people will spill out from a single location onto Richmond’s streets at 2 a.m. and there’s nothing council can do about it.

“I don’t think everybody understood the implications,” McNulty said of his fellow councillors.

Richmond RCMP did not support the application, citing staffing problems during the always busy New Year’s Eve.

But McNulty said that the event holder can now simply shut down the party at 2 a.m. and police would then face the burden associated with thousands of people leaving a single event.

Had council approved the event, McNulty said the promoter would have had to pay for policing costs and could have been asked to place a performance bond to ensure there are no problems.

“If this goes ahead...we could have a problem,” McNulty said of the New Year’s Eve party. “Now the city is on the hook. Right now we’re...at the whim of the developers (of BridgePoint).”

Roussopoulos said he was disappointed at the decision by members of the general purposes committee.

He now plans to start the New Year’s Eve party at 2 p.m. and will have it end at 2 a.m.

“I’m disappointed that they didn’t grant it. I really thought that it made logical sense.”

Only McNulty and fellow councillor Linda Barnes voted in favour of the application to have BridgePoint named as an approved rave site.

Coun. Lyn Greenhill, who opposed the application, said her chief concern was that there weren’t enough washrooms to handle all the people expected for the event.

Had that building code requirement been met, Greenhill said she would have been supportive of a New Year’s Eve rave at BridgePoint in spite of police concerns.

Alan Clark, manager of zoning for the City of Richmond, wrote in his report that Bridge-Point “is a good (location) in regard to lack of residential in the area, easy access in and out, and ample parking to accommodate patrons.”

But staff believe there are sufficient problems, chiefly to do with the number of washrooms and exits, that still need to be addressed before a rave licence should be granted.

Clark wrote that staff accepted the results of an acoustical and sound measurement review which found that music was “inaudible” across the water in Vancouver, during a test using a typical rave sound system.

Roussopoulos said his company was hoping to revive BridgePoint Market as an entertainment facility.

The former public market, not known for its easy accessibility, has been vacant since the early-1990s.

 http://www.richmond-news.com/121101/news/121101nn1.html
Rave will go on without city's approval

RCMP say they don't have resources to police the event which could draw up to 5,300 people

By Michelle Hopkins ([email protected])

A huge New Year's Eve rave party at the abandoned Bridgepoint Market is going ahead despite Richmond city council's objections.

Vancouver businessman Riel Roussopoulos said his company, Undernet Services Ltd., has invested too much money in its success - more than $40,000 - to turn back now.

"We need a night like New Year's Eve to make our company survive," a disappointed Roussopoulos said following the meeting.

Roussopoulos had applied to the city for a special rave permit, which would license the party to operate until 8 a.m.

Without the permit, Roussopoulos can still hold the event, but must shut it down by 2 a.m.

Roussopoulos said he hopes that doesn't put a damper on business.

"We've already sold about 1,000 tickets and we can just hope that those people won't want a refund because the party will have to shut down at 2 a.m. rather than 8 a.m.," he said.

The party is estimated to draw as many as 5,300 people.

On Monday, after a lengthy discussion, council voted 7-2 to turn down the request. Councillors opposed to the party argued it contravened the city's rave bylaw which restricts the events to only two locations in the city - the Riverside Banquet Hall and The Palace.

The bylaw also states raves must be held on weekends only, and that enough washrooms be available.

Councillor Evelina Halsey-Brandt pointed out that another application for a large party was received by council prior to this one and it should take precedence.

The RCMP also didn't support the New Year's Eve bash, saying they don't have the personnel to adequately cover this event, as well as police the rest of the city.

"We have to be ready for all eventualities and, because of the Sept. 11 attacks, we have to be extra vigilant on New Year's Eve," said Richmond RCMP Insp. Tonia Enger.

"We have the airport and the citizens of Richmond to protect. This event will impact on our resources."

In the past, raves in Richmond have required the presence of at least five police officers, but due to the size of this one, Enger said a minimum of 15 officers would be needed - plus the riot teams if the event gets out of hand.

Roussopoulos said his company has already offered to pay for extra police presence. Plus, he said, "We have also hired 50 security guards ourselves."

But Enger argued that New Year's Eve - between the hours of 2 a.m and 4 a.m. - is the busiest time for the police and the rave could take members away from other emergencies.

"What it may mean is that we will have to prioritize resources on that evening and some incidents may not be covered," she said.

Councillor Bill McNulty, who voted in favour of the rave application along with councillor Linda Barnes, warned that by not approving the party and, thus, forcing the promoter to pay RCMP overtime costs, the city could be on the hook for the money.

"Now it's not going to be a rave. It's going to be a private party for 5,300 people," McNulty said.

"Even though the event will end at 2 a.m., now it will take hours to get 5,300 people out of the area. I think the city got itself in double jeopardy," he added.

Roussopoulos said his company was hopeful of holding more events like this at Bridgepoint, which has sat empty for years.

"This is the event that can launch a 10-year project between us and Bridgepoint," he said.

The application has yet to be formally discussed by council.


 http://www.richmond-news.com/121101/...121101op1.html
City does not have resources to host large rave

Many will accuse Richmond city council of being party-poopers because it won't give its blessing to a proposal to hold an all-night rave dance at BridgePoint Market on New Year's Eve. Councillors voted 7-2 to deny promoter Riel Roussopoulos' request for a rave licence which would attract up to 5,300 people to the north Richmond site.

This decision doesn't mean the event is cancelled, just that it will have to close at 2 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. Either way, the police will be busy that evening and into the early morning.

Richmond RCMP told council that they were concerned about the event and rightfully so. The Mounties will likely have their hands full on Dec. 31 without having to devote resources to providing security at the rave.

The city just doesn't have the resources to handle an event of this magnitude.

silverfish
~L7~
new vancouver rave photos added daily at:
http://members.fotki.com/silverfish/