The City of Richmond is ramping up consequences for businesses that aren’t complying with provincial health orders in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The province has ordered no dine-in service at restaurants and a total shutdown of personal service businesses like salons and tattoo parlours.
Richmond businesses have to comply with all health orders, otherwise, they risk having their business license suspended or cancelled.
But many businesses were still flouting the provincial orders this week, days after they were put in place.
Normally, council suspends or cancels business licenses, but for expediency during the pandemic, council gave staff the authority to suspend business licenses.
Each day a business remains opened, it could be ticketed between $500 and $1,000.
Furthermore, if council moves to cancel the license, they could issue a fine, but this needs to go through provincial court and can take between six and 18 months.
By April 6, council hopes to have in place a bylaw that allows a maximum fine of $50,000 if a business is still operating with a suspended or cancelled license – up from a maximum of $10,000.
While normally bylaw officers respond to complaints, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the City of Richmond is moving to more proactive measures to ensure businesses are following provincial health orders, according to Kim Decker, city spokesperson.
The city is still encouraging anyone who sees non-compliance to email the city and provide details – date, time, address and a detailed description. Reports can be emailed to [email protected].
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