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The owner of retail stores The Little Market Box and Those Girls at the Market says “miscommunications” and “oversights” with the City of Saskatoon could close the doors of her Riversdale business.
Julianna Tan is facing a fine of over $18,000 from the city for not having an active business licence, but Tan says the process was muddied when communication from the city was delivered to an outdated address.
“I’ve asked for the maximum amount of time to pay it,” she said “they are giving me up to 12 months, if we default I go to jail for 110 days.”
Tan says the fine is “astronomical” for a small business and she is trying different fundraising efforts to pay.
“A fine of this amount will absolutely cause us to close our doors,” she said.
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In 2022, both businesses moved from 16th Street West to 20th Street. Tan said she had an active business licence and applied to update her address for a new one, but was denied for not having the proper permit.
“On our end, we weren’t sure what the permit was for, and when we inquired what it was for, we didn’t receive a response,” Tan said.
Because the building permit wasn’t pulled, Tan says her business licence wasn’t updated and she never saw the denial letter that was sent to an old address.
It was only when Tan was summoned to court in June that she learned about the violation.
She said she was shocked to learn the city has no requirement to notify applicants if they deny an application or if there is a violation.
“And so we were slapped with a massive fine,” Tan said, noting the penalty is for operating two businesses without a licence equals $18,508.
“During our address update (the city) let us know we only need one licence because it’s the same owner, same location, and so they cancelled one of our applications,” she said.
“We were supposed to be merging the two businesses into one, but because that got denied the fine doubled.”
The Little Market Box on 20th Street in Saskatoon. (Mia Holowaychuk/650 CKOM)
Tan says her business was deemed a public health risk because the store operated without a permit that ensured the washroom was built to universal standards.
“The washroom was built close to 15 years ago, long before we entered the building,” she said.
When asked if acquiring permits was the responsibility of the landlord or tenant, Tan said she was told by the city it could be either.
“It’s confusing, because when you’re applying for a building permit it’s a little tough to apply when you don’t know what you’re applying for,” she said.
“So I applied for the entire building, I made a map of everything, and they deemed what they needed to do was inspect the washroom to make sure it was built to code.”
According to a statement from the City of Saskatoon, there was email contact with both businesses regarding the matter since 2022. As the bylaw requirement continued to not be met following the email exchanges, a letter was mailed to the business in February, 2023.
“The City of Saskatoon’s Community Standards Department received business licence applications for two businesses, The Little Market Box and Those Girls at the Market, in April 2022.
“Following several communications with the applicant to resolve issues, a denial letter was sent in March 2023 due to the failure of the applicant to meet permitting requirements. The applicant was provided written notice of decision and did not appeal the matter,” acting city solicitor Jodi Manastyrski said in an emailed statement.
According to the city, when it was discovered that the businesses continued to operate without a licence, which is essential for adhering to zoning and building regulations, enforcement actions were taken against each business.
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