CBS eyeing pop up flea markets

By Craig Westcott
September 22, 2023

Sometimes the bane of some small business owners who must pay rent and municipal taxes to conduct business, weekend pop up flea markets, whose operators pay nothing to the Town or usually anyone else, are starting to attract the attention of CBS council.

Councillor-at-large Joshua Barrett said Tuesday the issue has been raised with him and other councillors, and such flea markets are illegal, unless the operator has a permit.

“I know we see them on private property in Kelligrews and they are popping up at 2570 Topsail Road (the site of the former Irving gas station in Chamberlains that has since been torn down),” Barrett said. “And I just want you to know that we consider this an outdoor market and for an outdoor market, in our regulations, you actually require a permit to operate this, and you need approval from the property owner. And to date, we haven’t received any applications for a permit for an outdoor market. And so, I say all this because these are operating without permits, and we have notified our municipal enforcement (staff) and if you see those flea markets operating, please be mindful of that. Municipal enforcement is looking into that. I don’t say this to try to nitpick on some folks who are trying maybe to sell some goods or some old clothes, or whatever the case is, but some of these situations are infringing on parking for community parks or local businesses and I just want you to be cognizant of that, that some of these operations are impeding access to some of our areas.”