Smoke Shops in Brantford

Apparently the natives have set up a Smoke Shop on GRCA land off of Erie Ave in Brantford. And Mayor Mike Hancock is "not happy" and is "disappointed", but the City is powerless to do anything about it because the shop is not on municipal land. Or are they just unwilling and afraid to act?

I thought that the City of Brantford had zoning bylaws and other regulations that covered retail operations. But apparently not if they are not on municipal property. Guess this is big news to most retail operations that are on private property in the City as well. It seems that City bylaws only apply to municipal property.

I guess I will set up a Smoke Shop in my garage. Maybe I will also turn it into a bar as well. It's not on municipal property , so the City cannot do anything about it. Yeah, right.

So citizens of Brantford, feel free to ignore all City of Brantford bylaws. The Mayor will be disappointed but unable to act.