Council denies permit for Tony’s Street Meat

June 4, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Michelle Janzen

After much debate and speculation not only in Shelburne, but also in surrounding communities, the hot topic of debate lately was all about Tony’s Street Meat’s licence for his outdoor hot dog cart not being renewed.

On April 25, the Town of Shelburne Council members denied Tony’s Street Meats’ application for a short term/intermittent business license for his Hot Dog cart.

Subsequently, on May 9, Mr. Finocchio had his lawyer, Leonard Hochberg, speak to Council requesting there be a motion made to reconsider Tony’s Street Meat license. Then, Mr. Hochberg presented the Council with the petition which he says contains 1,000 signatures of those wanting the business to remain open.

Mayor Bennington thanked Mr. Finocchio for his submissions to Council, to which the Town of Shelburne made a resolution to forward Mr. Finocchio’s delegation submission to their lawyer for consideration.

At this past Monday’s Council meeting, a member of the audience spoke to lawmakers during question period and stated that Tony was famous on four continents, to which Mayor Ken Bennington replied “I wish he’d move to another one.”

With that, is was pretty evident that the night would not be going in Mr. Finocchio’s favour.

After waiting almost the entire evening, Council read a motion stating that the Town of Shelburne would not be issuing Tony’s Street Meat a business licence this year.

Stating Municipal Act of Ontario by-law 151.4-B which states: upon the grounds that the conduct of any person, including the officers, directors, employees or agents of a corporation, affords reasonable cause to believe that the person will not carry on or engage in the business in accordance with the law or with honesty and integrity. 2006, c. 32, Sched. A, s. 82. and Town of Shelburne BY-LAW NO. 11-2001 which states; being a by-law to license, regulate and govern persons who go from place to place or to a particular place with goods, wares, merchandise or services or samples of the same, for sale, and others who are not permanently established at a specific locations, as their reasons for doing so.

The future of Tony’s Sweet Treats is not known at this time, but it is unaffected by Council’s decision. However, last month, Mr. Finocchio told the Shelburne Free Press that if his license was not renewed, he would be taking the matter to the courts.