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<\/h3>\n<\/h3>\nYou can dance if you want to (but take your aggression inside)<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam Vaughan is not trying to ban dancing in the city. He’s quick to point this out, lest anyone jump to conclusions. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’m trying to make the entertainment district more entertaining,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he tells me.<\/p>\n Nightclub owners may feel otherwise. Last week, the steadfast Trinity-Spadina councillor, determined to deal with the growing violence, vandalism, noise volume and overall tomfoolery that takes place when nearly 60,000 drunk club-goers empty out onto the streets of the entertainment district after last call every weekend night, asked staff to look into charging club owners a fee for the right to use sidewalk space for lineups. He’d also like to see a report on the possibility of limiting the number of clubs in the area altogether — one method, he said, that could limit the general mayhem the neighbourhood experiences at night.<\/p>\n Having such a high concentration of large nightclubs in one area creates \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a dynamic that we know is volatile and dangerous,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Vaughan says. When it was suggested that establishments be forced to get their revved-up patrons to await entry to the clubs inside the doors instead of along the street, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission declared that it would be much too dangerous to pack all those un-frisked crowds indoors. Better to pack those people on public sidewalks than force club owners to manage the crowds that are flocking to their doors! The city can pay for the police, and other businesses in the area can pay for the damage inflicted on their property. The people living nearby (yes, they do exist — see the King-Spadina Residents Association) can cope with the noise. According to Vaughan, many residents choose to remain at home at night rather than deal with the intimidating crowds.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to tackle the concentration issue and dilute the impact,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Vaughan. But planning staff say there’s little their department can do to help mitigate the problem. Sure, there are other tools that can be used to calm the rowdy dancers — limiting the number of liquor licences permitted in the area is one; charging club owners fees for the cost of policing is another — but Vaughan says he wants to look at all the tools available. The planning department’s resistance to the idea is perplexing. They do, after all, limit the number of clubs elsewhere, so why not here?<\/p>\n Staff will now grudgingly spend the next six months developing a report on the possibilities of capping the number of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153licensed entertainment facilities\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and the economic implications of doing so, something they should have done over the last two years when a temporary moratorium on nightclubs in the area was in place. The moratorium was lifted at the beginning of May, and aside from a section on entertainment establishments included in a recent King-Spadina Secondary Plan review, no new policies have been put in place. So much for being efficient.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![](\"http:\/\/www.eyeweekly.com\/eye\/issue\/issue_05.10.07\/city\/photos\/city_cityhall.jpg\")
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