It may be game over for a retro arcade trying to set up shop in New West.
For the past year, Surrey resident Brad Eyers has been in talks with the city about updating its bylaws to allow a retro gaming arcade in the downtown. The city restricted amusement arcades in the New West in 1998 because of complaints about noise, hours of operation and disrespectful or unlawful behaviour.
“My concern all along is I want the right vibe for a location. For me, New Westminster is where it was,” he said. “Personally I have always loved New Westminster and I would love to be part of helping New Westminster to rejuvenate. We will get a lot of people in the downtown area.”
Eyers believes an arcade featuring retro games from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s would be a destination for 35- to 50-year-olds as there’s nothing like it in Metro Vancouver. He feels downtown New West is the perfect location because it’s centrally located in the region, near two SkyTrain stations and filled with old buildings.
Eyers has been collecting arcade games for 22 years and has amassed a collection of 85 games, which would be rotated in and out of the business to keep it fresh. Pac Man, Donkey Kong and Burgertime are just a few of the games folks could play at his retro arcade.
After Eyers’ approached city hall about opening a retro-style amusement arcade downtown, staff proposed changes to the regulations for amusement arcades in the city through amendments to the city’s zoning, business license and development services fees and rates bylaws. To manage possible concerns, staff recommended restrictions such as not allowing liquor to be served or allowing games that depict any graphic or realistic depictions of physical violence.
Eyers and the Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Association (BIA) voiced concerns to city hall that some of the proposed regulations were too restrictive, such as prohibiting alcohol from being served.
John Stark, the city’s acting director of planning, said New Westminster is one of the first municipalities that is looking at bringing in lessrestrictive zoning for arcadesand wants to “get it right” from the outset.
“Given the sensitivity in the past, I think that’s why we wanted to proceed with caution and make sure that whatever we were bringing forward enables these arcades to operate but also guards against any negative externalities. We did receive some concerns that it may be over restrictive,” he said. “It gave us pause. We do need to reflect a little bit more on this before bringing it in.”
Given the workload of city staff and council priorities, Stark said it’s unlikely a report will be considered by council until September.
But that may be too little too late for Eyers, who first approached the city about his business plan last spring and hoped to open last summer.
“I have already started looking elsewhere - I have to,” said Eyers, a former professor in web development and video game development at the Art Institute in Vancouver who has been a stay-at-home dad for the last three years. “I have to have an income.”
While the focus of the arcade is on the games, Eyers wants to be able to serve beer and wine to customers. He fears questions posed about the legalities of getting a special event license to serve alcohol at corporate and bachelor parties, when the city prohibits serving in alcohol in gaming arcades, may have put the city “on its heels” because staff have answers to questions posed about the restrictions.
