Kitchener council vote coming on making open alcohol legal in Victoria Park

A downtown Kitchener park could be open to alcoholic drinks next summer.

A motion is set to be discussed at the City of Kitchener council meeting Monday night to make enjoying any alcoholic beverage legal in Victoria Park for a four-month period between July 1 and October 31, 2024.

The councillor reading the motion will be Ward 3’s Jason Deneault, who believes that with the downtown core becoming denser, more space is needed for social gatherings, which could also create economic benefits.

At the end of the trial, city staff would come back to council at the end of the year and recommend whether alchohol consumption in parks has benefits for downtown Kitchener.

CityNews 570 has spoken with some residents to get their verdict ahead of the meeting.

“As long as people are responsible about it, I don’t really care,” said Trish. “I live right near the park and don’t really find a problem with it.

“I don’t approve of drinking, period,” stated Nathan. “I would avoid the park.”

Another Kitchener resident wanted to know more about the rules that the city would put in place.

“I would be curious to know how it’s worked in other places,” said the man. “It’s the kind of thing that if went smoothly, it would be ok. As long as they monitor it carefully to make sure things don’t get out of hand.”

Toronto is a perfect example of where this idea has been tried. The City of Toronto launched their own two-month trial in August for 27 parks.

It was extended until March after the city only got two alcohol-related complaints in the two months, while the non-alcoholic parks had 28 complaints, and included an incident where one person was charged.

As for the rules that would be in place for Victoria Park, Deneault’s motion did not include those details. If Kitchener were to follow Toronto, no drinks would exceed 15 per cent alcohol, and the park would only be open to alcohol consumption between 5:30 a.m. and midnight.