A Richmond-based karaoke bar will have its business license suspended for seven days in June after allegedly allowing smoking inside.

On three occasions between February and March, the Richmond RCMP Gang Unit inspected the karaoke bar where it appeared that customers were smoking inside. While it’s not confirmed whether or not there’s a concern for gang activity in this particular bar, Cpl. Dennis Hwang with the Richmond RCMP said these inspections were part of routine “anti-gang initiatives” where police make their presence known.

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“The karaoke scene is one area that we do focus on,” Hwang said.

During one of these inspections, RCMP say that Zodiac staff were “going room to room warning of police presence.”

During another RCMP inspection, staff appeared to be collecting ashtrays and putting them in a drawer and a sign was posted saying “Non-Smoking Room Available.”

Cigarette butts found in drawer at Zodiac Karaoke. Image: City of Richmond staff report

In Richmond, smoking is not permitted inside businesses.

In March, city staff and an RCMP member met with Jian Ping Zhang and Jun Gang Gu who own Zodiac Karaoke to discuss the bylaw infractions. According to a city staff report, the owners requested the city’s help to manage their guests. However, staff told them it’s the business’ responsibility to control their customers’ behaviour.

“Despite our best efforts, there are occasional sneaky guests who smoke inside the karaoke room or try to be sneaky by smoking in the washrooms with the ventilation on,” Zhang and Gu wrote in a letter to city staff.

“These sneaky guests don’t realize the high expense it takes to remove the odour.”

The letter goes on to say that Zodiac staff had confiscated ashtrays from their customers and had given customers warnings to stop smoking inside.

At the special council meeting, city staff initially recommended that Zodiac Karaoke Cabaret’s license be suspended for 10 days from June 1 to June 10.

However, Bert Hick, president of Rising Tide Consultants, a representative for the owners of Zodiac Karaoke Inc., noted that there have been no issues since the last incident, and that significant changes to staffing, policies and procedures had been implemented.

As a result, council decided to suspend the business license for seven days from June 15 to June 21 instead, after RCMP confirmed that there have been no further smoking violations since March.

The Richmond News tried to reach Zodiac Karaoke for comment by phone and social media but has not received a response.