City won’t crack down on home-based businesses
Corner Brook is not actively cracking down on unlicensed businesses.
The Town of Gambo in central Newfoundland recently announced in its quarterly newsletter that if a complaint is made about a backyard mechanic, or some other form of unlicensed business operating in the community, it will pass the name on to Revenue Canada for investigation to see if taxes are being paid on the income from the business.
Corner Brook is not taking such a measure.
Paul Barnable, director of community services, and Dale Park, director of corporate services, confirmed there is no such crackdown on businesses operating without the proper permits.
Barnable, whose department deals with building permits, said if a business owner came in to get a permit for renovations his department would check to see if the business was registered.
“We don’t have an active program, per se, where we’re out looking for new businesses,” Barnable said. “If they come to our attention, it’s by way of an enforcement measure or by way of a permit.
“We get a lot of applications for home-based businesses, which are captured through that process — when somebody complies and applies for a permit. Otherwise it would be if somebody complained about a business operating next door.”
Having a business owner without a licence look for a home-based business permit is rare, but it does happen.
In a place the size of Corner Brook, with a population of more than 20,000 people and a business directory numbering in the hundreds, enforcement is a complex matter.
Barnable said there’s no way to know for certain how many businesses are operating in the city without the necessary permits from the city, but the vast majority of business owners act in accordance with the rules, he believes.
Occasionally people report noise, odours or other unpleasant conditions existing in a neighbour’s property and a business is found that way.
Enforcement of bylaws in those cases could result in a business owner having to get his paperwork for city hall up to date and in compliance.
source: http://www.thewesternstar.com/index.cfm?sid=341391&sc=26