District of North Vancouver council has endorsed Grouse Mountain’s bid for two new food primary liquor licenses and longer liquor hours during the 2010 Winter Games.

On Monday, DNV council gave its support to the mountain resort which will be seeking two new licenses for its Alpine Cabin and hiwus Feast House, and to extend its hours serving alcohol from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. to the new hours of 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. from Feb. 8 to March 1, 2010.

“Our intention is to be accessible to people from different time zones,” William Mbaho, spokesperson for Grouse Mountain, told The Outlook. “We want people to come and celebrate.”

Mbaho added, “We are not looking to encourage more people to drink .... We do anticipate people may want to and that option should be available to them.”

Grouse hopes to be a major tourist draw for local and international visitors during the Olympics by running its ski hill and food and beverage operations 24 hours a day from Feb. 12 to 28, 2010, as well as being the broadcast centre for NBC’s Today show.

The resort has previously run non-stop for 24 hours and 48 hours with extended liquor hours. Both went off without a hitch, Mbaho said.

With the district’s blessing, Mbaho said Grouse will now be applying for the licenses and extensions to the provincial Liquor Control and Licensing Branch.

According to DNV Mayor Richard Walton, council was satisfied Grouse had addressed any concerns the proposed changes could have on the community, saying, “Grouse has gone about this responsibly.”

Grouse’s location atop a mountain and away from residential quarters negated noise concerns, while on-street parking restrictions along Nancy Green Way will also be implement to reduce traffic noise.

Other parking changes and additional security will be implemented on Grouse.

Walton added the RCMP have been consulted about the extended hours and they believe there won’t be any negative impacts.

“All we can do is go on the track record and police have found they (Grouse) are quite good corporate citizens on that,” he said.

According to a report that went to council, “The RCMP notes that GMR (Grouse Mountain Resorts) has never been a problem regarding its licensed premises nor the associated nuisance reports commonly associated with the operations of licensed establishments.”

Mbaho said Grouse will have a plan in place to ensure people drink responsibly.

“We do have security that will be involved in this,” Mbaho said, adding servers all have Serving it Right certification.

While Grouse is going for the maximum allowable serving hours of 9 a.m. to 4 a.m., Mbaho cautioned that doesn’t mean visitors can expect the drinks will be flowing at all hours.

“Whether we choose to serve at those hours will be up to us ... we simply wanted that option,” he said.

An agreement between the DNV and Grouse will allow the district to recover direct overtime costs “attributed to GMR and the extension of their liquor license during the Olympics.”

Just how the Alpine Cabin and hiwus Feast House will be used during the Olympics isn’t known yet, Mbaho said.

“It’s a little too early to say what’s going to happen ... that will be announced in the coming months,” he said.

Currently the Alpine Cabin is home to the Tyee Ski Club and the hiwu Feast House is used for corporate and educational functions.

dpi@northshoreoutlook.com