Wolseley store to stay open

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This article was published 29/05/2015 (4100 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s the sweet smell of victory.

A six-hour battle backed by Wolseley residents ended well for La Parfumerie owner Michael O’Malley, who won his appeal Thursday.

Members of the community were out in droves to support one of their own after a zoning bylaw threatened to shut down his business.

O’Malley’s perfume store has been an icon on Evanson Street since 1999, and six weeks ago O’Malley received a surprise notice from the city rejecting his application for a conditional-use zoning permit.

“The last six weeks have been a nightmare. I feel I have aged five years, (I am) emotionally and physically exhausted,” he said after the meeting.

The store, which he operates out of his home, mostly deals with wholesale sales and sells customized natural perfumes; on average about four people enter his store a day.

However, after a random inspection by a city planner, the independent business owner was slapped with an order that he must either end the retail component of his business or go through an extensive set of renovations so it could be zoned for retail sales.

Either move would have ended his business, his said.

“I would lose my livelihood, and Winnipeg will lose the only working perfumery in Canada, for reasons I don’t truly understand,” O’Malley told the city’s appeals committee. “I am confused and intimidated.”

On Thursday, O’Malley appealed this decision, bringing with him a throng of supporters from his neighbourhood, leaving the committee room standing-room-only as he pleaded his case.

Almost 600 signatures were collected in favour of his business, and more than a dozen delegates went to the meeting to speak in support of O’Malley and his business.

Several other businesses in the neighbourhood, including Prairie Sky Books, Humboldt’s Legacy and the Neighbourhood Bookstore and Café appeared in support, arguing there are no complaints in the business community about O’Malley’s store.

The resounding theme among community members was they didn’t understand why O’Malley was being targeted after all these years.

Grant Pastuck, whose store, Prairie Sky Books, sits across the street from La Parfumerie, argued the store has brought positive elements to the community.

“It is not as if he was trying to establish a business outside of the guidelines. It has been (there) all these years. There is nothing new involved, and there are no surprises down the line,” Pastuck said. “It should just be an obvious correction.”

The appeals committee ruled in favour of O’Malley, throwing out the order by the city, other than stating he needs to apply for a variance for a sign.

Committee member Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) spoke in favour of the business throughout the meeting, but acknowledged the committee has to be careful about setting a precedent.

“There are other areas, which if there was a retail business, there would be 500 residents on the other side of table, saying they don’t want it there,” Gerbasi said.

kristin.annable@freepress.mb.ca