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A little civil disobedience
17 July 2010
Scoop and I enjoyed a little act of civil disobedience, Saturday morning, as we drank a hot beverage at a table on the main street sidewalk that was clearly not within either the strictly approved and restricted sidewalk patio or sidewalk café zones.
Hasta la victoria, siempre, eh? Well, we weren't alone. A lot of local merchants shared our act of civil disobedience, by the simple act of putting a small display of merchandise on the sidewalk. Even if that merchandise was carefully placed within the very limited 0.6-metre band adjacent to the buildings (most didn't quite fit and spilled outside the boundaries), it was illegal.
Who says? The town's bylaw department. In a letter to merchants and BIA members sent out Friday, the bylaw department wrote "It is important that before any type of business is conducted on Town property, a license (sic) be obtained... Until you have received a licence under the current by-law, please remove all patio, café, or merchandise from the sidewalk forthwith."
As you can see by the pictures I took this morning, a lot of merchants chose to disobey this letter and make what appears to be a wide-scale protest, albeit in a quiet, Canadian manner, by simply using the sidewalk as they have done in the past. Of course it didn't help that no one could actually obtain a licence on a Saturday, since the town offices were closed. Or that to get such a licence even for a small table or rack of clothes, you need a copy of your insurance certificate, a location/site plan, health unit approval (for food) and property owner's consent.*
Judging by the number of merchants who disobeyed this edict, I'd suggest the licensing bylaw remains rather unpopular among downtown merchants and restaurant owners.
Look in the following comments for more pictures of Collingwood's weekend of civil disobedience.
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* Noted incorrectly on the application without the necessary apostrophe (and egregious capitalization) as "Property Owners Consent." Also incorrectly written are "Owner Information" (should be Owner's information), "Owners Name," "Owners Address" and "Owners Phone" and "Collingwood Clerks Department" (all missing the necessary apostrophes). The Punctuation Police will be paying a visit to the bylaw officer in the near future.
Who says? The town's bylaw department. In a letter to merchants and BIA members sent out Friday, the bylaw department wrote "It is important that before any type of business is conducted on Town property, a license (sic) be obtained... Until you have received a licence under the current by-law, please remove all patio, café, or merchandise from the sidewalk forthwith."
As you can see by the pictures I took this morning, a lot of merchants chose to disobey this letter and make what appears to be a wide-scale protest, albeit in a quiet, Canadian manner, by simply using the sidewalk as they have done in the past. Of course it didn't help that no one could actually obtain a licence on a Saturday, since the town offices were closed. Or that to get such a licence even for a small table or rack of clothes, you need a copy of your insurance certificate, a location/site plan, health unit approval (for food) and property owner's consent.*
Judging by the number of merchants who disobeyed this edict, I'd suggest the licensing bylaw remains rather unpopular among downtown merchants and restaurant owners.
Look in the following comments for more pictures of Collingwood's weekend of civil disobedience.
~~~~~
* Noted incorrectly on the application without the necessary apostrophe (and egregious capitalization) as "Property Owners Consent." Also incorrectly written are "Owner Information" (should be Owner's information), "Owners Name," "Owners Address" and "Owners Phone" and "Collingwood Clerks Department" (all missing the necessary apostrophes). The Punctuation Police will be paying a visit to the bylaw officer in the near future.
