Flower shop owner criticizes city reversal
An Ottawa-based company is allowed after all to sell flowers from streetsides in Brockville over the Easter weekend.
As first reported on the Recorder and Times website Thursday, city hall has decided to allow Weekly Flowers to sell flowers from outside Brockville's three Quickie locations, after initially banning itinerant roadside flower vendors in Brockville until the end of June.
The reversal drew sharp criticism from a Brockville florist who has long advocated a ban on roadside flower vendors.
“It doesn't feel like the city's supporting the local businesses,” Jennifer Henderson, co-owner of The Flower Shop Reg'd, said Thursday.
City council recently approved a motion prohibiting roadside flower vendors in Brockville from April to June of this year.
The author of the resolution, Councillor Jason Baker, said at the time the roadside flower vendors are a traffic safety concern and a drain on local flower shops, profiting from the peak sales periods of Easter weekend and Mother's Day weekend without paying local taxes.