A number of small businesses in Kingston’s west end have been closed, but not because they were planning to close.
A strip mall off Gardiners Road and Norris Court is zoned for industrial uses, not commercial. Despite the conflict, some businesses operated for years until city bylaw officers came knocking.
Rob Smirle owns Don’t Tell Momma Tattoos. He says municipal officers approached him and his business on July 31.
“They came in and told us to shut our doors and presented us with $240 fine and told us that our businesses license at the time had expired,” Smirle said. “We offered to pay the license and they said, no, we need to reapply for everything and then we’ve come to find out it’s more of a zoning issue than anything.”
City officials wouldn’t confirm how many businesses are affected, but by our count, at least three have been shut down.
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Dan Hazell is the supervisor of licensing and enforcement for Kingston. He says it really comes down to each individual location, whether that location permits the use of the proposed business or not.
In light of the closures, business-owners are asking why now? One of the businesses, Solace Spa, has operated without any problems for six years until bylaw enforcement came calling earlier this month. Hazell says the city learns about these types of scenarios in situations through a wide variety of mechanisms.
“Sometimes we’ll receive complaints, sometime we’ll receive information from our external agencies as well as officers and agents do proactive patrols and identify potential violations,” Hazell said.
A couple of businesses said they would like to reopen at their present location, but aren’t sure how long it’ll take or how much it’ll cost to get zoning compliance.