Police officers make an arrest after a fight in a club line-up on Peter St.

In an effort to combat the strain on police resources and disturbance to local residents, Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20) has decided that it's time to change the rules governing Club Land, Jeff Gray reports in The Globe.

We suck police resources from across the city into one little neighbourhood, to police a bunch of basically hooligans," Mr. Vaughan said in an interview. "And I say the club owners have to take responsibility for this."

If you've ever been in the neighborhood shortly after last call you can see how bad the situation can be. Hundreds of people, often with no local ties to the neighborhood are all released on the city at once, and unless you are a hot dog vendor, this is a very bad thing.

An interesting aspect of Vaughan's proposal would require nightclub owners to apply and pay for the a permit to use public sidewalks for lengthy line-ups. This makes so much sense I am surprised it isn't already the law. Restaurants must apply for a patio permit, whether or not they serve liquor on it. How is it any different? Since these clubs are using public space as a holding pen, and they are making money from the space, they should have to pay for it.

The article finishes with a response from the other side:

"Adam Vassos, a lawyer who represents several of the area's nightclubs, said the industry is being treated unfairly and its problems exaggerated. He argued that the nightclubs revitalized a derelict part of the downtown.

"The area was in a complete shambles," he said of the neighbourhood in the late 1980s, before clubs began to spring up."

Can anyone confirm on deny this? I wasn't spending too much time in the area when I was 6.

In all, I think that there needs to be a heightened level of scrutiny governing this area. Too many clubs operate within their own world; self-created kingdoms where they get to govern with impunity. These establishments need to realize that they are a part of a neighborhood and community larger than just themselves, and that they must be responsible members of that community.

Photo by Take More Photos