Cafe caught in red tape despite winning ballot for dog-friendly venue licence

Homeowners in a Hong Kong subsidised housing estate will need to amend a legal land-use document to permit a cafe on the premises to allow dogs, after the venue was disqualified from a pet-friendly licence scheme despite winning an application ballot.The Housing Department said on Thursday that the owners of Kai Yan Court in Kai Tak must consent to amending the deed of mutual covenant (DMC) under the Land Registry, which currently bans dogs on the premises, for Marz Menu to become a dog-friendly venue.While the cafe won the ballot for a licence, its application was later denied after further inspection of the estate’s land-use terms found that dogs were banned from the walkway outside the restaurant, an area that falls under the Housing Department.