The City of Edmonton has cancelled its decision to revoke the licence of a north Edmonton shisha bar after it failed to communicate properly with the owner.
On Monday, the city announced it would cancel Nyala Lounge’s business licence after a recommendation from the Public Safety Compliance Team (PSCT). The PSCT said its closure would be “in the interest of public and patron safety after repeated violations to safety and security conditions.”
Nyala Lounge has been fined $24,000 since June for licence condition violations, including 13 “violent” incidents involving weapons in and outside the venue. Owner Mulugeta Tesfay claimed his business has been racially profiled by the city and Edmonton Police Service.
‘An issue with the process’
On Tuesday, the city put the licence cancellation on hold.
“The City of Edmonton discovered an issue with the process of notifying the owner of Nyala Lounge that his business licence was under review,” City of Edmonton Communications Advisor Lisa Sobchyshyn told CTV News in a statement.
A notice was sent to Tesfay on August 18. The city decided to cancel Nyala Lounge’s business licence a month later, on September 19, after it did not hear back from Tesfay.
Tesfay told CTV News he was in Africa last month for a family emergency. The notice was returned to the city on Tuesday as undelivered.
That day, Annet Adetunji, a city licensing and policy analyst, informed Tesfay his licence was no longer cancelled:
“As per our conversation earlier today, the decision letter dated September 19, 2018 cancelling your business licence is revoked. A new licence review process will be initiated and the City will issue a Notice of Proposal to Cancel the business licence.”
Nyala Lounge is allowed to operate while the process is completed and it will reopen on Friday.
