After a lengthy legal battle with the city, a shisha bar in central Edmonton had its business license reinstated.
“Finally was a good decision,” said Mulugeta Tesfay, the owner of Nyala Lounge.
The lounge was issued more than 40 tickets from the city, primarily for safety issues. Then, in December 2018,Tesfay said his business license was pulled.
“I appealed because I want justice so I provide all the evidence that I have,” he said.
That appeal went before a tribunal made up of three city councilors on Tuesday.
Tesfay said he wasn’t alone in his fight.
“It was a lot of customers, a lot of neighbours, a lot of friends, they were there for support.”
“They know this place, they’ve been here, they know how safe or not,” he added.
The lounge also had its license suspended for a day in September 2018 due to safety concerns.
“Out of the 22 violent incident that occurred in or outside the venue, 13 involved weapons,” said Justin Lallemand of the Public Safety Compliance Team.
Tesfay believes his business, along with several others in the African community, were targeted by the Public Safety Compliance Team.
The team has denied those allegations.
The license reinstatement comes with a number of conditions, including mandatory metal detectors and security training.
Tesfay said he will abide by the conditions, if he decides to reopen.
With files from Timm Bruch…
