A 3-year legal battle between St. John's and Urban Market is over

The owners of Urban Market 1919 are feeling delayed holiday cheer after a their three-year legal battle with the City of St. John's came to an end. 

Ivy Hanley and her husband and business partner Greg Hanley were first taken to court in 2022. The city alleged the couple did not have a valid occupancy permit for their seasonal store, Christmas House — a separate building next to their Urban Market location. 

That charge was dropped in provincial court in 2023 due to a lack of evidence. The city appealed, but on Friday the case was thrown out of Supreme Court.

Ivy Hanley said the building was approved for occupancy, and she overheard that point being made during a St. John's council meeting. However, a permit was never issued and the fee kept getting refunded.

"[They could] hand-write the occupancy permit," Ivy Hanley told CBC Radio's On The Go. "But instead of doing that, which would take maybe an hour of employee time, they decided to get their team of lawyers and criminally charge us for opening without occupancy."

A provincial court judge could not find the city bylaw that the Christmas House owners were alleged to have broken, said Ivy Hanley, and the city could not produce the bylaw either. 

Ivy Hanley said the couple went to court at least six times during the trial because the city's lawyers "were showing up late" and "they weren't prepared." 

The couple self-represented until the City of St. John's took the case to the Supreme Court for appeal. 

Ivy Hanley says she is frustrated that so many hours and dollars were spent on the occupancy debacle.

"All of this is paid for by our tax dollars when they could have just simply wrote out a temporary permit," she said. 

Hurting business was never intent, city says

In Justice Robert Stack's ruling on the appeal, he wrote that a building inspector testified in November that an inspection of the property showed various items that needed to be addressed inside the Christmas House — like the area not having a working sprinkler or fire alarm.

The inspector was the only witness called by the city, and the trial judge ruled his evidence was "woefully deficient," Stack wrote.

The decision also further explored the meaning of occupation.

Stack wrote that because the property was intended to be a retail store, having staff and other representatives on site to facilitate the work needed to obtain an occupancy certificate wouldn't fall under the definition of the property being occupied.

In an emailed statement to CBC News on Monday, St. John's corporate communications manager Jackie O'Brien said the primary purpose of the appeal was to seek clarification on the legalities of occupancy in circumstances like the markets — and not to harm or punish the business.

"The outcome of the appeal has no practical effect on the respondent's ability to operate their business. Despite the loss, the judgment did provide the city with some clarity and this legal issue is now resolved."

Despite the red tape from the city, Ivy Hanley said business is thriving at Urban Market 1919, which stocks a variety of food and other products made in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

"For once, the little guys, they came out on top," she said.

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