After a Vernon property owner sued the City of Vernon over its refusal to issue him a business licence, the BC Supreme Court has ordered the city to make a decision on his application.
Madam Justice Sandra Wilkinson issued the order in Kelowna court March 25, giving the city 14 days to decide whether to issue the business licence.
The court order comes more than a year after Yuri Bos submitted his application for the business licence.
Bos was seeking a licence for two properties, which are located next to each other on 34th Street. The two parcels near Highway 97 are zoned community commercial.
Bos signed a 10-year offer to lease agreement with BigSteelBox, a storage company, in April 2021. BigSteelBox already owns and operates out of the neighbouring property.
According to the ruling, the company contacted the city to see if it would be able to acquire all relevant permits and licences to utilize the properties, but the city didn’t allow the company to use the properties for the proposed use. BigSteelBox then terminated its agreement with Bos in June 2021.
Bos then made his own permit application in November 2022, and the city told him he would need to make two separate business licence applications in January 2023.
Bos was told in May of that year that a business licence had been issued for one of the properties. At the time of a hearing on March 4, 2024, Bos had not received any update on the status of the other application.
Bos sought an order of mandamus mandating the city to issue a permit for the other application, as well as financial compensation for damages relating to the city’s failure to issue a licence, as well as the delay in granting the licence the city did issue.
The city said it did not understand the complaint, claiming it had issued business licences for both properties, but Justice Wilkinson found that submission to be without merit, saying the city “completely ignores the fact that no decision has been made with respect to the petitioner’s business license application for (one of the properties).”
Wilkinson wrote that at no point before the hearing of the petition did the city seek clarification of the claims, adding that the city’s position that Bos should have sought a reconsideration by city council “again ignores the fact that no decision has actually been made.”
The city had an obligation to consider the application and not unreasonably refuse it, Wilkinson wrote, adding that “no explanation is provided by the city for the unreasonable delay of over 13 months from the filing of the separate applications.”
“The petitioner is entitled to have his application decided upon so that he can either conduct the business sought or seek review of the decision through the available reconsideration process,” Wilkinson wrote.
Wilkinson found an order of mandamus compelling the city to issue the business licence to be inappropriate, as he did not have a complete picture of the factors the city must consider before issuing the licence. However, he ordered the city to render its decision on the application within 14 days of the March 25 judgement.
“If the decision is to refuse the licence the city must provide written reasons explaining why the licence is refused,” Wilkinson wrote.
The judge also ruled that Bos will receive relief for costs.
“Despite not being successful on the entirety of the petition, given the necessity for the petitioner to seek judicial relief and proceed to hearing based on the conduct of the city, I find that it is appropriate to award the petitioner his costs on the petition at scale B,” Wilkinson wrote.
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