Popular Fredericton bar must close after city denies operation renewal | CBC News

Fredericton nightlife will have one less bar option in three weeks.

The Front Yard Beer Garden is set to close on July 10, after their request to operate for another year was denied at a planning advisory committee meeting on Wednesday. 

Located on King St. in downtown Fredericton, the Front Yard is a seasonal open-air drinking venue that has been active since 2023 under a three-year timeline agreement with the city as a temporary vending facility. They serve out of a converted bus that sits at the back of a turf-lined fenced area.

“We saw a real gap, and that was something needed that was affordable, outdoors and welcoming,†said Shayan Malekloo, one of four co-owners of the Front Yard in his presentation at the meeting. He immigrated to Canada seven years ago, said he dreamt of being a business owner in Fredericton since his arrival. 

The intent of the three-year time frame was for a permanent structure to come to fruition, but throughout that time there was no development action. 

The land it sits on already has an approved development plan for a five-storey mixed-use building, but Malekloo said the landowner has no immediate plans.

“It's something that the city wants to see an underused lot in a parking lot instead of a bar that house three to 500 people every weekend for the last three years,†Malekloo said in an interview with CBC after the vote. 

The Front Yard employs 15-20 people during its operating period from around May to October.

Concerns aside from development have been raised about their renewal request. In the staff report presented to the committee, city staff cited reports from the Fredericton Police Force outlining documented incidents specific to the Front Yard including fighting, public urination, “alleged drugging of victims,†property damage, breach of peace, public nuisance and noise complaints, and others. 

In his presentation, Malekloo said while he was not denying the incidents in the police reports happened, he said including them in the report was “fundamentally misleading.”

“Not one of those incidents was caused by our operation. Every single one was caused by an individual member of the public who chose to either drink too much, to fight or behave badly,” he said.

The fact that the Front Yard is outside means that “every incident that occurs on our property … is visible, documented and attributed to us,” Malekoo said, while adding that he felt the same scrutiny was not put on other nearby businesses.

The majority of what committee members said pertained to high levels of noise, and the beer garden's compatibility with its surroundings. 

The Front Yard neighbours other businesses and residents, and is across the street from an amalgamation of bars and restaurants called the Tannery that has an outdoor courtyard and patio area.

“The Front Yard has consistently been a focal point for police attention in the downtown core, largely due to the concentration of large numbers of intoxicated patrons within a confined area and the level of noise generated from the events,” city staff wrote in the report.

Malekloo alleged in his presentation that competing businesses in the Tannery are also responsible for the high levels of noise. He shared a story in council about an unnamed establishment across the street that aimed their sound system toward the Front Yard, which “was so loud that inside our own premises, sometimes next to our own speakers, we could barely hear our own music.â€

He said that both the Front Yard and the competing business were issued a noise complaint.

“This is the environment. This is not specific to us,†Malekloo said.

Downtown Fredericton Inc., the region's Business Improvement Area organization, sent a letter to the council denying their support for the Front Yard's request to continue operating. 

“The level of concerns related to our office and the nature of them with this particular establishment is outside of what would be expected,†said Adam Peabody, the executive director of DFI, in an interview with CBC before the meeting.

The council acknowledged that certain incidents and noise levels could be foreseen, but “the extent and ongoing nature of the incidences related to this specific business over multiple years is concerning,†said city planner Fredrick VanRooyen.

After some debate and Malekloo's presentation, committee members voted in favour of denying the Front Yard's request.

Malekloo expects that its patrons will feel “definitely a lot of sadness†with the Front Yard closing. “It's the hub of downtown. We were a hit from day one.â€

Malekloo and the other co-owners said they planned to eventually purchase the lot and turn the Front Yard into a permanent fixture, something that would require an amendment to the approved development and the money to acquire the property. 

“They had had three years with full understanding that they needed to develop, you know, a structure to conform with permanent land usage and they didn't,†said Coun. Greg Ericson, who voted against the request, in an interview with CBC after the meeting.

“I do wish the owners of the business well and I do hope that their entrepreneurial spirit finds a way to manifest in our city.â€