In a situation reminiscent of the debate over food trucks a few years ago, a Gibsons boutique that wants to go mobile is facing hurdles when it comes to sorting out the rules in different jurisdictions.
Christine Turner and her husband Ernie own a trio of “brick and mortar” stores in Gibsons – Embellish Emporium, Cure8ed Home and Flourish Boutique. Turner said they decided to try a mobile version of Flourish this summer as a way to expand the reach of their business and bought a converted delivery van.
“Fashion trucks are quite successful. There are over 500 of them in the States and there’s already a few of them in Canada. We thought it would be a good fit for the Sunshine Coast because we’ve got places like Pender Harbour that currently have no ladies clothing stores, and remote communities where the commute [to shop] is hard. And the cost of having another storefront versus being mobile made a truck very attractive as well,” Turner said.
“We phoned the Town of Gibsons, the SCRD [Sunshine Coast Regional District] and Sechelt and asked, ‘What do we need to operate a fashion truck?’ We got some vague answers, but from the gist of it we learned that there’s an intercommunity [business] licence… But because there were no current permits that we fit under, we could address that when the time came to register our business and it would operate not much different than other mobile vending trucks, as long as we had a suitable place to park it.”
After those discussions, and a long search for a private property owner willing to give them a parking spot, they thought they had all the permits they needed to hit the road with the Flourish Fashion Truck, which they nicknamed Flo.
They ran into their first roadblock when they set up Aug. 24 at the Shell gas station at Cowrie and Trail in downtown Sechelt.
Connie Jordison, communications manager for the District of Sechelt, said there was a complaint alleging violations of the bylaw on mobile vendors. Jordison explained the bylaw prohibits mobile vendors “in the downtown core, on any park, beach or school grounds or on municipal-owned property other than roads, on a provincial highway or on Sechelt Inlet Road.”
She also said the district’s bylaw does not allow mobile vendors “within 50 metres of a fixed address business selling a similar product.”
With downtown Sechelt no longer viable, Turner was able to find a spot for Flo in Madeira Park, where they set up for three days last week. Mobile vendors, regardless of their wares, face fewer restrictions in the SCRD rural areas.
Andrew Allen, SCRD manager of planning and development, said there are regulations around the use of road allowances, but that’s the responsibility of the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, and mobile vending is prohibited at SCRD parks. He also said zoning restrictions apply, and a mobile vendor would need to set up on property that’s zoned for commercial use or public assembly.
SCRD planners started a review of mobile vending in 2011, but nothing came of it. Allen said, much like in the municipalities, mobile vendors are welcome to participate at farmers markets or craft fairs held in SCRD jurisdiction if the organizers allow it.
Turner, however, said they’ve had no luck with that approach because the markets only allow vendors to “sell it if they make it or bake it.”
Gibsons allows mobile vendors to set up on private property where zoning allows retail or commercial use.
Town officials said they issued a permit for the Turners to park Flo on public roads as “an experiment,” but earlier this week they revoked the permit, citing conflicts with public events in Lower Gibsons and complaints about noise and signage.
Town CAO Emanuel Machado said the conflict was with the Gibsons Sunday Market.
Machado said the decision to issue the permit was seen as a logical extension of the intercommunity business licence system, which is designed mainly for trades such as plumbers or electricians who may have a base in one community, but service other communities. “It was a request we had, we issued a permit to see how it worked. In our view it didn’t work and we cancelled the permit and refunded the money.”
The Turners also had Flo based in Davis Bay on the long weekend, without problems.
However, Ernie Turner said meetings with the District of Sechelt to try to find a way to allow the fashion truck downtown, where it can benefit from pedestrian traffic, haven’t led to any solutions. He said the only options they’ve been given so far, “pretty much eliminate the downtown.”
Christine Turner said being where they’re accessible to walk-by customers is critical to the fashion truck business model. “It’s new here. We’re cutting edge and first on the Coast, but there are more that will be coming behind us,” predicted Ernie Turner.
Machado acknowledged that Gibsons and other communities will have to come up with regulations to match new approaches from retailers. “The nature of retail is changing,” he said. “We’re now seeing businesses in a mobile format that our bylaws haven’t caught up to.”
Waiting for the municipalities to catch up, however, has left the Turners and their new venture in a frustrating limbo that they’re hoping will be resolved soon.
