Plans to create Burnaby brewery district going full steam(works) ahead

This is the first in a Burnaby Beacon series exploring how the city can improve its “fun factor” and create a thriving and vibrant nightlife.

If you're looking for some Friday night or weekend fun, a trip to the breweries might be in the cards.

This means you may be heading to Port Moody or North Vancouver, where there are designated brewery districts, allowing for more drink and walking-friendly options.

But is there a possibility that Burnaby could have its own brewery district?

A Burnaby city councillor says plans are in the works to make good on an election promise that could see the city establish a brewers’ row.

Shortly before last year’s municipal election the Burnaby Citizens’ Association (BCA) pledged to designate part of the BC Parkway, near Royal Oak SkyTrain Station, as a brewery district.

Coun. Daniel Tetrault told the Beacon this week that he plans to bring that idea to council in the near future—and that the city is already working on looking at how it can change zoning regulations that would encourage breweries to set up in Burnaby.

“One thing is, we're working on developing a liquor permitting process that would streamline the approval process for liquor facilities,” he said.

“So this is patios, restaurants, breweries, basically anywhere where liquor is served. And so that would facilitate something like a brewery row.”

Tetrault pointed to the success of Studio Brewing, which landed on the scene on Beresford Street in early 2021 and has quickly made a name for itself in the craft beer scene.

The brewery celebrated its 2nd birthday with a party just last week, which saw the taproom packed with people from Burnaby and elsewhere.

“The community has been so incredible. We have so many regulars who live within a couple blocks radius, we have so many people taking the SkyTrain all the way out to come visit us,” said Studio’s front-of-house manager Morgan Miller-Sutton.

“... And the beer community is also another community that's been really supportive as other breweries, reaching out to us doing collaborations with us. …The beer community is very unique and very awesome.”

She said the Studio team would love to see more breweries open up in the area, and said many of the buildings lend themselves well to the business.

But she also noted that the owners had to wade through a certain amount of red tape with the city when they were applying for their business license, meaning it was a long and arduous process to open their doors.

Tetrault said the current rezoning processes for businesses like breweries are left over from a time when they were viewed as less culturally acceptable—but things have changed, and people now want those types of businesses to open in their neighbourhoods.

“The regulatory review that we're looking at is making sure that it isn't such an uphill battle for these local businesses—that this type of industry is welcome here. We need to make sure we have this flexibility, particularly in these industrial zonings, that allow for places like Studio,” he said.

“So I know something's coming in the near future with this regulatory review, which would cut some of that red tape for local businesses and things like breweries to get started.”

Tetrault said Burnaby should look to municipalities like Port Moody and North Vancouver, which both have thriving brewery districts, as an example—and noted that areas like theirs bring in visitors from outside their respective cities.

“The conditions and settings were made that made it attractive to set up there. So once we do a regulatory review, we need to make sure we're working with local businesses, working with the Burnaby Board of Trade, and communicating to industry that we're open for these types of businesses, and this area is suitable for it,” he said.

As for where a potential brewers’ row could be set up: Tetrault said BC Parkway, in the area of Studio Brewing, would be ideal with its proximity to transit, bike paths, urban centres, and industrial zoning—but the same would be true of the areas around Burnaby’s other two breweries (Dageraad Brewing and Steamworks Brewery and Taproom).

And he said that beyond the matter of breweries specifically, the city has work to do on building public spaces that appeal to everyone—attracting local businesses like restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and local artists, to keep people in Burnaby when they want to socialize.

“You know, where do young people go? In the evening when they want to socialize, when they want to dance, when they want to see a show, a lot of them are leaving Burnaby,” he said.

“And we want to make sure that people can stay in their community and walk them or take a bike somewhere and, and socialize with friends or check out this show, without having to get in their car.”