Halifax Council Quashes ‘Ridiculous’ Morality Laws Hampering Local Business
HALIFAX–If you wanted to open a sex shop in downtown Halifax, it is now completely legal to do so. Before February of 2022, that wasn’t the case.
For a very long time in Halifax, certain popular business locations, like the well-travelled Barrington Street, were off-limits to anyone peddling “adult entertainment.”
According to Coun. Waye Mason, this was thanks to old bylaws going back to at least the 70s that hadn’t been updated in nearly 50 years.
“In the old downtown bylaw there are rules that define or control ‘adult entertainment,” said Mason. “If you’re selling sex toys and that kind of stuff you can’t have a store that sells mostly those things. It has to be clothing or books, but not other stuff, which is ridiculous.”
“There are a whole bunch of morality-based bylaws around alcohol, around arcades, and anything to do with sexuality that are straight out of the middle of the last century.”
This antique bylaw came to bite a popular business in the behind in 2021 when it moved locations. For years, Venus Envy operated on Barrington Street but no one noticed it was technically operating illegally under the bylaws.
But in the summer of 2021, Venus Envy moved to a new location on Barrington, barely two blocks from its former home. The owners applied for a new occupancy as simple due diligence. It was at that point the city informed them they couldn’t hold on to their license as long as they existed in that area.
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“Nobody wants to enforce a stupid law like that,” said Mason. “The bylaw is antiquated and reflects a moral space in land-use planning that is ridiculous and inappropriate in the 21st century.”
“There is a risk that if you don’t have an occupancy permit that the bylaw people will shut you down.”
When Halifax passed the new centre plan, it aimed to streamline a standard for bylaws across the city and do away with anything outdated. But, according to Mason, certain heritage districts, like Barrington Street, were left out for the time being because of their complicated nature.
“The Barrington Street heritage conservation district is very complex. To not slow down the adoption of the Centre Plan, the heritage districts are not in the centre plan yet; they’re in the old bylaw.”
“The ridiculous thing about this is, if they moved Venus Envy to Quinpool Road, they would have been able to hold a permit,” Mason said.
After learning about Venus Envy’s situation, Mason introduced a motion to amend the definition of “adult entertainment” as it pertains to the downtown Halifax land-use bylaw. It passed easily in February through council, which now allows adult bookstores and retail outlets to operate in the area.
Mason said the motion passed quickly and quietly, without any backlash or controversy from the public.
“Nobody cares about this stuff anymore, or they’re not willing to come out publicly,” he said. “I feel bad for Venus Envy because it was a complete waste of their time.”
Even though council relaxed the restrictions against sex shops, don’t expect them to reopen the heated debate the city once had about other “adult” businesses, like strip clubs or more steamy kinds of massage parlours. The last HRM strip club closed in 2018 and, currently, the laws don’t allow any new spaces to open.
Waye Mason doesn’t think council would have the appetite to reconsider those laws. He also doesn’t believe places like Venus Envy equate to strip clubs.
“I don’t think council would all of a sudden be ‘yeah, strip clubs are great!’”
“I’m very hesitant to tie what Venus Envy does to a strip club. Venus Envy sells normal marital aid, sex toys, and LGBTQ material. That is a normal part of everyday life.”
Huddle Today reached out to Venus Envy, but nobody was available for an interview before our publication deadline.
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].