the north grenville
TIMES
Reaching by direct mail 9,000 homes and businesses in North Grenville and Merrickville/Wolford www.ngtimes.ca
Vol. 4, No 27
The Voice of North Grenville
July 6, 2016
Economic Development - squashed
The North Grenville Times is Locally Owned and Operated
L-R: Evan Davidson , Jack Johnston and Nolan Beavis by David Shanahan Three young people in Oxford Mills have recently received a harsh lesson in North Grenville economic development. The three boys, each 13 years old, decided to work through the summer break by doing lawn care work around Oxford Mills, where they live. Following a tradition going back many years, they made up signs on sheets of paper, with a contact phone number on the bottom, and posted them on three or four hydro poles around the village. They were excited at the idea of earning some money and doing some outside work during the sum-
mer, but what happened next came as a shock. Ken Davidson, father of one of the boys, Evan, explains: “They attached these signs, with the little tear off phone numbers on the bottom, to 4-5 hydro poles around town. For the next couple of weeks my son would look eagerly at these signs as we drove by them to see if anyone had taken a phone number. We were away last weekend when one of the other boys received a phone call from a bylaw officer saying that signs were not permitted on telephone poles and their signs had to be removed�. In our Green and Growing community, three teenage boys trying to do some
honest work, instead of hanging around video games and corners, were told that their lawn care project was, in fact, a business, and they had to abide by all the bylaws governing commercial operations. This meant that they could not advertise on hydro poles. When the bylaw officer was asked how they could advertise for customers, he said they could only put up signs on their own property. Evan Davidson, Jack Johnston and Nolan Beavis have to abide by the same rules and sign bylaw regulations as developers in Kemptville, or real estate agents, for example. It may be remembered that young people in Ox-
ford Mills have suffered from municipal regulations in the past. Not too long ago, a young girl had built a chicken coop as part of her 4H activities, and was taking care of a handful of chickens. Down came the bylaws again, forcing her to remove the chickens because the property was not zoned for that. This was on a large property, with plenty of room, at the very edge of the village. But a neighbour, newly-arrived from the city, objected, and so the chickens had to leave. The neighbours subsequently moved. Ken Davidson has contacted the municipal Councillors and Mayor, and continued on page 2
Merrickville/ Wolford Times page 14