Burnaby's Hafez Tea House can breathe a flavoured sigh of relief since the city decided to repeal its smoking bylaw.
City council's decision followed an Oct. 21 presentation from Honeyeh Adibi-Larijani asking the city to fix its smoking bylaw so her family business, Hafez Tea House, could continue to operate.
The local hookah lounge recently moved to a new location on Hastings Street and has a new business license pending. It has been in business for 12 years.
The Fraser Health Authority was not letting it continue to operate unless it met Burnaby's smoking bylaw, which required a separate smoking room.
"We no longer have to build that second room," Adibi-Larijani told the Burnaby NOW. "It was pretty exciting; we're relieved."
Despite having to read the report several times to understand what the implications would be for her business, Adibi-Larijani said it was "good news." The tea house can continue to operate as it awaits its business application.
According to the report, when staff reviewed the city's smoking bylaw, they determined aspects of it were redundant or outdated with current provincial smoking regulations. The smoking bylaw has not changed much since it was adopted in 1997.
Now, the Fraser Health Authority will be the only one to administer its Tobacco Smoking Act regulation in Burnaby.
The city will continue to regulate the business with other applicable bylaws such as building permits, licensing and parking.
