Exemption unravels 'red tape' for BBQFest, Canada Day in Georgina

Council vote grants bylaw exemption allowing $75 one-day event fee for celebrations

Yorkregion.com
June 13, 2018
Heidi Riedner

BBQFest organizer Forrest Jones says the July 28 event is a go thanks to the town unravelling some of the bureaucratic “red tape” threatening to strangle the event.

Council voted last week 5-2 in favour of granting an exemption to the town’s food truck bylaw, allowing a $75 one-day event fee for both BBQFest and the town’s Canada Day celebrations that are being held at The ROC.

“The show must, and will, go on,” said Jones, who had requested the town update its food truck bylaw or at least consider a one-time fee for event-stationed parking similar to other municipalities in the region.

The town’s $350 annual licensing fee per truck, as well as lottery licence requirements and a potential $5,000 tab for paid on-duty police presence, forced Jones, who puts on the event without financial assistance from the town, to consider pulling the plug this year.

“These obstacles that came at me, with seven weeks before BBQFest, were not as a result of bad planning, but was me moving forward with expectations that things would be the same as last year,” Jones said.

“Without food trucks, I do not believe I would have been able to adequately supply the guests that I believe and hope are coming to BBQFest,” he added.

Every municipality in the region, with the exception of King, has a licensing bylaw for food truck vendors, with five having a one-time event fee ranging between $50 and $80, according to a review by staff tabled at council.

Mayor Margaret Quirk suggested a one-time fee of $75, similar to what East Gwillimbury is considering when it comes to the licensing of refreshment vehicles.

The fee “levels out an unfair playing field” since refreshment vehicles aren’t subject to commercial business tax, Quirk said.

All other aspects of the licensing would remain, including public health certification and vulnerable sector screening.

A further in-depth review of the bylaw for potential updates or the inclusion of a permanent clause to allow for similar one-day event fees would include consultation with the 11 food trucks -- a majority of which are at fixed locations -- currently licensed to do business in Georgina.

In the meantime, a briefing note from the clerk's department, expected to be tabled two weeks from now, will make recommendations regarding similar exemptions that may be sought by other groups for the remainder of this year and whether or not they should be considered under a formal policy or on a case-by-case basis.

While Quirk said she understands that it may seem like a lot of red tape for event organizers, she added the municipality is a "creature of the province" and must adhere to regulations set out by various agencies when it comes to things such as liquor, lottery and safety requirements.

And, at the end of the day, "those rules are put in place as safeguards," she said. "They are there to protect organizers in terms of liability in case anything goes wrong, ensure people are in a safe environment and facilitate a successful event."

Already pleased that a reduction in the required paid duty officers shaved off roughly $2,000 from his total event bill, Jones said the bylaw exemption and a $1,500 economic development grant approved last week will help him further reduce costs.

“My intentions of BBQFest are as a result of promises I did make and I do want to be a man of my word to continue those promises from early 2017,” he said, reiterating his entire motivation is to benefit local charities Jericho Youth Services, Shades of Hope and Routes.

Councillors Dave Neeson and Dan Fellini voted against the exemption.