RICHMOND MOVES TO BAN RAVES

Thugs, drugs and older mugs are three of the reasons why city staff is
urging council to close the book on all-night rave parties.

And it looks like councillors are on-side with the move.

In a report presented Tuesday afternoon to councillors on the city's
community safety committee, city safety policy manager Shawn Issel
cited the appearance of gang members, greater availability of illegal
and often harder drugs, and a change in demographics away from just
youth as the impetus for the proposed ban.

Currently, rave parties are only permitted in Richmond and Vancouver,
with other communities having outlawed them.

A rave is an all-night dance party featuring DJs, who play electronic
dance music. They can be held in warehouses, banquet halls or outdoors.

When Richmond's rave bylaw was first introduced seven years ago, the
music and dancing parties primarily drew people in their late teens to
early 20s. Now the age range is from 15 to 50.

"The public attending raves now represent a wider age range, anywhere
from 15 to 50," Issel wroe. "Not only is there a greater availability
of drugs, such as ecstasy and cannabis, but more hardcore drugs are
starting to be seen. The number of serious incidents taking place at
raves has increased, and the presence of gang members at raves is
starting to occur. This mix of adults and youth, combined with the
availability of drugs, creates an environment where youth are
potentially at risk."

As well, when the city passed its rave bylaw, the intent was to
regulate the industry and to provide a safe environment for local
youth to attend the dance parties.

But the number of locals attending these events appears to be
dropping, Issel wrote.

"At a recent rave, a random survey of 100 attendees revealed that only
two were Richmond residents."

At Tuesday's meeting, there was little debate about the ban, and the
committee unanimously backed the staff recommendation.

Bobby Ghirra, who operates the Riverside Banquet Hall on River Road in
north Richmond, told The Richmond Review he's not opposed to the rave
ban.

Business has been booming in banquet hall rentals for weddings and
parties, and it was simply a business decision that future rave
applications at their facilities would be declined, he said.

At his four banquet halls, he averages close to 400 annual
bookings.

"Our business strategy has changed now from doing rave-like dance
parties into more banquets," he said.

"We just constructed a new banquet hall and our client-base return on
business is better doing banquets versus renting out to...rave promoters."

Ghirra said raves were not becoming a headache--though they took more
work by management--but it appears as though their popularity has waned.

There were a total of 27 raves held in Richmond in 2000 and 2001, but
that dropped to just five over the two-year span of 2002 and 2003, the
city report states. There were six in 2005 and five in 2006, and so
far, there have been three this year.

The change in demographics at raves has also come with an additional
price tag.

While the permit fee of $5,400 has in the past covered the cost of
extra policing, an increase in serious incidents has led to a stronger
police presence. That's cost organizers an extra $11,000 during the
past two local raves.