A wrench has been thrown in a young St. Albert, Alta., man’s business due to licensing issues with city hall.
Liam Grant, 18, started Heritage Auto Detailing in April 2023. With a passion for cars and cleaning, it began as casual hobby jobs here and there, detailing his family and friends’ vehicles.
“I decided to just kind of put two and two together and make a business out of it,” Grant explained, adding he’s since detailed more than 200 vehicles.
“I just enjoy the satisfaction of going from a super dirty car to a super clean, showroom-shiny car. It’s a really rewarding job and it really makes people happy.
“It’s been super busy. Last summer was fully booked, fully packed.”
Wanting to do the right thing and make a real go of it, Grant applied last fall for a business licence.
“I had to get a business licence just to abide by all the rules,” he said.
“Operating a business in the city, you have to have a business licence, so I didn’t want to do anything against the law.”
The business owner said he was granted a licence earlier this year and carried on with his jobs, detailing vehicles both at his parents’ house in St. Albert where he lives and at clients’ homes, depending on what was most convenient for his customers. He typically details one or two vehicles a day.
But a couple of months after being issued the licence, he heard from the City of St. Albert.
“They said, ‘Hey, you can’t be operating out of your own home,'” Grant said. “They said it’s too disruptive, it’ll cause parking issues, traffic issues.
“They said I have to be doing it at other people’s houses, which is what I’ve been doing, but it’s also important to be able to do it at my own house for people that I can’t service at their own home, such as apartments.”
Emails between the city and Grant obtained by Global News show he was issued the business licence on Feb. 21, with his home address listed as the business location.
Followup emails from the city in April stated that Grant is not allowed to perform any auto detailing services at his home. He is only allowed to perform “administrative functions” at his home.
The email exchange stated Grant can provide mobile detailing services by going to clients’ homes, but he cannot provide detailing services at his own home. The city said under the provisions of the Land Use Bylaw, a home occupation does not allow any type of automotive service use.
The city said compliance is compulsory, or Grant risks having his licence revoked.
St. Albert Coun. Wes Brodhead said while the community encourages young entrepreneurs like Grant, he reiterated the current Land Use Bylaw doesn’t allow automotive-type businesses to be run within a home.
“We’ve had issues like this before where people have tried to do motor work, transmission work, brakes,” he said. “It just has been difficult within residential land use districts to allow that to occur.
“How do you say yes to one and no to another? The intent may be one or two (vehicles) per day — somebody else has a home-based business and it’s not that way. Bylaws, by their nature, are non-respecters of people.
“You have to apply the bylaw equitably across the community. So what works for one person has to work for the other.”
Grant said the emails from the city about his business licence came as a surprise. He said he’s lost about 30 per cent of his business, not being able to do the work at his house.
“It’s very important. This is how I can afford to do the things I want to do, and this is how I make my money. This is how I live.”
Grant said he’s been in touch with a couple of city councillors and the staff in charge of issuing the business licence, but there’s been no progress.
“They said that everything is going to stay the same. They’re not willing to make exceptions.”
Grant put off going to college to try to get his business off the ground. For now, he’ll continue to operate from his customers’ homes, but hopes the city will eventually come around.
“I don’t really understand how that’s different … doing it here compared to someone else’s house because the same amount of disruption is going to be happening no matter where it is.”