Halifax convenience store owners decry ‘unfair’ proposed bylaw to limit hours

The owners of two convenience stores on the Halifax peninsula are fighting a proposed bylaw that could force them to close early.

Triple A and Jubilee Junction are both located on Jubilee Road on the corner of Preston Street, a short walk from Dalhousie University and the University of King’s College. The stores are open until the early morning hours, serving pizza and selling other typical convenience store wares.

The proposed bylaw, which passed first reading by Halifax regional council last week, would make it so stores like theirs in residential neighbourhoods could only operate between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m.

During a council meeting Thursday, Waye Mason, who represents Halifax South Downtown, said the stores being open late “can be quite disruptive to the community, especially if they’re serving pizza and have a lot of folks coming from downtown congregating, eating said pizza.”

During an interview Monday, Mason said the bylaw was intended to address a “loophole” in the peninsula’s land-use bylaw, which allows residential convenience stores to serve hot food.

He said some of the activity from what’s known as Pizza Corner in the city’s downtown has “migrated” into the middle of residential neighbourhoods.

Since the stores don’t have much seating, some people end up leaning against houses, sitting on lawns and hanging out in the street.

“Especially near the university, that can become a bit of an issue when you have very loud crowds congregating at three o’clock in the morning,” he said.

Mason said police have had to be called multiple times to disperse crowds.

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The bylaw would apply to 25 stores, five of which would have to change their hours. Triple A and Jubilee Junction are two of them. Mason said he has asked city staff for the names of the others.

John Amyoony, the owner of Triple A, said he’s concerned about what impact the proposed bylaw would have on his family-owned business, as about half their sales come after 11 p.m.

He said Triple A serves more than just pizza, and it’s important that it remains open late to serve the needs of the community.

“Some people go to work late,” he said. “We have hospitals, we have nurses, we have doctors, we have people working security … they stop by the store.”

Amyoony also said the store – which is open until 1 a.m. on weeknights and until 3 a.m. on weekends – provides a safe spot to go for people walking in the area late at night.

“The girls, they tell me they’re safe walking a small distance to be here at the store instead of walking far, and feel more secure here,” he said.

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Triple A has been around since 1977 and he’s concerned about its future if the bylaw passes second reading.

“After 45 years, I cannot see myself lose what I established,” he said. “I’m not a number, I’m not a company, I’m a family business.”

Michael Habib, owner of Jubilee Junction across the street, said “the bulk” of their business comes after 11 p.m.

“You don’t do business when the big guys are open,” he said, referring to larger chain stores.

“We’re a convenience store, and we’re supposed to be here to serve the people as conveniently as we’re able to, and limitations (are) not so convenient.”

Running a business is hard enough, he said – especially after two years of COVID-19 and, most recently, post-tropical storm Fiona – without having to deal with the prospect of lost business.

But the new bylaw is about more than what will happen to his business, said Habib.

“Our freedom is being taken away from us,” he said. “If this passes, what else are they going to pass?”

Jubilee Junction is open until 1 a.m. most nights and until 2 a.m. on weekends, he said.

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According to an HRM staff report, 25 letters were sent out to the stores that would be impacted by the bylaw, but nobody responded. The report also said the city received two public responses through the city’s website supporting the bylaw.

Habib said he never received the letter and was otherwise not consulted.

“Even criminals have rights in order to defend themselves.… If I wasn’t consulted, how can I defend myself?” he said.

“With the slash of a pen, you destroy somebody’s life? It’s very unfair.”

Both Jubilee Junction and Triple A have petitions at their stores, which have racked up hundreds of signatures.

“I have a petition in my store with a few hundred lines on it, which is a lot more than the 25 letters that were sent out, and the responses that they got online,” said Habib.

Amyoony said Triple A did receive a letter from the city but Fiona hit soon afterward, which pulled his attention elsewhere.

He only found out about the motion passing first reading after a customer told him last week, he said.

Since then, he’s received a lot of support from the public, he said.

“Every single customer coming in – students and adults – they said, ‘No way,’” Amyoony said.

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Mason said the businesses were sent letters, but said they might not have opened them.

He said he’s asked for the second reading of the bylaw to be pushed back, and is looking into arranging meetings with the affected business owners to see if they can come up with a better solution.

“But if the business can only go ahead if it’s negatively impacting the other people around them, I don’t think that’s fair and I don’t think that can continue,” he said.

While only two people submitted feedback online, Mason said this is an issue he regularly hears about from constituents in the area and the bylaw has actually been in the works since last year, when a number of Dalhousie students attended a disruptive homecoming party.

Taking note of the recent Dal homecoming party last weekend, during which a number of people were arrested, Mason said these kinds of loud, rowdy events are unacceptable.

“None of this is OK. It’s not OK to disturb these neighbours, it’s not OK to have massive street parties,” he said.

Mason said there are other businesses within walking distance, outside of residential areas, where students can get pizza.

“We want them to have pizza, we want them to get a little bit of bread and tomato in their stomachs if they’ve been drinking,” he said.

“But we want them to do that at Pizza Corner, or at Xtreme Pizza on Spring Garden Road, or at one of the pizza places on Quinpool Road, where it’s a business district and that’s expected.”

Mason said he plans to meet with the stores’ owners and get more information before the bylaw’s second reading.

The second reading will likely come in November or December, he said, and if it passes, the law would come into effect about two weeks later.