Prince George city council granted a Hart business a one-year temporary use permit to continue operations at its Monday, Feb. 3 meeting.
Jewel Henricks has been operating a U-Haul truck and trailer rental location at 7714 Hart Highway since October 2023, a property zoned only for residential use.
As previously reported by The Citizen, the city took note that the business was running on residential land the month after it opened and told Henricks that she had to come into compliance with zoning bylaws.
Henricks applied for a temporary use permit in May 2024 and the matter only came before council this month where staff were recommending the permit be denied as vehicle rentals are considered unsuitable for residential areas.
Her application package includes a petition with 278 signatures and five letters from nearby property owners voicing support for the permit to be granted.
Two of those letters were from Henricks herself, who said in a Jan. 30 interview that she submitted them as the owner of neighbouring properties after being notified by the city that it was soliciting comments from potentially affected properties near the business.
In that phone interview, Henricks told The Citizen she was unaware of the zoning issue when she opened the business and said she was trying to derive an income from a property that she pays taxes on but does not receive sewer services from the city, making a potential sale potentially difficult.
During staff’s presentation on the item, director of planning and development Deanna Wasnik said there is an active bylaw complaint against the business and that it would be better suited to an industrial area.
She added that the petition does not include the addresses of those who signed it, making it difficult to make sure whether they are nearby residents.
Mayor Simon Yu said he was interested in granting the permit in the hopes of finding a solution before the three-year term expires.
He added that it is difficult for businesses to open in the current economic climate, that the business in question is the only one of its type in the neighbourhood and it's the only U-Haul rental open on weekends in Prince George.
“We should have the empathy to allow the owner to find some time to move their business,” Yu said.
The mayor’s suggestion was that the city grant the business a two-year temporary use permit as they have already been open for a year.
Coun. Cori Ramsay said she agreed with staff’s recommendation to deny the application for the reasons Wasnik outlined. She also said that in a residential area, it would be taxed at a lower rate than other U-Haul rentals on appropriately zoned properties in the city and would see the city inadvertently giving the applicant a tax break.
She said she thought it would be proper for the applicant to instead request for the property to be rezoned, clarifying that she doesn’t want to kill the business — just follow the rules.
City manager Walter Babicz clarified that staff’s recommendation was on land use entirely, not the tax implications.
Coun. Trudy Klassen said she has sympathy for small business owners. She also said the province wants to take a more active approach to natural resource development and that could mean increased need for U-Haul rentals.
Coun. Tim Bennett said Ramsay’s comments on the tax implications were a good point and the precedent of approving the permit could be a problem.
Coun. Susan Scott agreed with staff’s recommendation as it was presented.
Coun. Ron Polillo said he was sympathetic, but that the business in question did not follow the proper procedure.
Coun. Garth Frizzell said it would have been an “easy no” from him should the business have been on the highway directly, but the property in question is on a frontage road. Given that two of the adjacent properties are owned by the same person and the lack of businesses in the neighbourhood, he asked whether a one-year permit could be instituted instead of the typical three-year permit.
Coun. Kyle Sampson said he was thinking along the same lines as Frizzell and supported granting a one-year permit.
Ultimately, council voted five to three in favour of granting a one-year temporary use permit to the business. Scott, Polillo and Ramsay were the trio opposing the permit.
Coun. Brian Skakun was the only member of council not present at Monday's meeting.
