A Powell River health and wellness entrepreneur has requested that City of Powell River compensate her business more than $12,000 for what she claimed are ongoing disruptions that have caused her to lose clients.
Nourish Yoga and Wellness Studio owner Terri Cramb presented her case to the city’s committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, November 29.
Cramb told the committee she was very attached to a second-floor space above the new Powell River Public Library site at Crossroads Village Shopping Centre, but had to move to another unit in the shopping centre when the city installed seismic support beams in her main studio.
“Circumstances have been out of everyone’s control, but I wanted to express to council the huge impact that it has had on myself as a small business,” said Cramb during her presentation. “It’s been very hard to maintain a solid business plan and move toward our goals when so much time, energy and effort has been directed toward the situation. It’s taken away from our ability to grow.”
According to financial statements Cramb provided to the city as part of her request for compensation, costs to move to another unit came in at more than $7,000.
Noise disruption and a poor environment for yoga classes has made it challenging to attract new students and retain the ones she had prior to the move, Cramb told the committee.
Recognizing those types of challenges, the city provided all affected tenants above the new library with rent reductions, first at 25 per cent, then after delays and requests from other tenants, reductions were bumped to 50 per cent. Because Nourish moved from the city’s building to a unit owned by Futurevest Investment Corporation, the business has not received the city’s discount.
After asking for compensation last spring for the move into another unit at Crossroads, Nourish was given $250 per month in June, July and August.
The lease for the second-floor unit was also cancelled and the lease for the new space is on a month-to-month basis.
After Cramb’s presentation, the committee agreed to have staff provide a report on the request.
Councillor CaroleAnn Leishman said she would like city chief financial officer Kathleen Day to consider the amount and provide some recommendations.
“It’s totally fair for the amount [that has] been put out and the damage to the business,” said Leishman at the meeting.
Cramb said the accounting she provided for her compensation request does not take into account factors such as increased stress and others she cannot account for.
“There’s been so much stress that has happened during this project,” she said. “I know the number sounds high, but that’s only the legitimate costs we can track. I don’t believe it actually reflects the impact it has had on the business.”
Mayor Dave Formosa said he thought the city has been more than fair with the compensation it had already provided, but said he would be willing to hear what Day thought about the request at a future meeting.
Formosa added that once library renovations are complete, the city would be taking care of the cost of leasehold improvements to the second-floor space Nourish had in order to bring it back to a usable condition.
“There is some pain, I get that,” said Formosa. “I don’t think that, from where I sit, this is totally to be borne by the city.”
Formosa said that while times may be tough, once the library is open there will be a large increase of walk-in traffic through the building, a potential boon for tenants like Nourish.
“The amount of compensation you’re looking for is pretty high,” he added, “but, regardless, let’s let staff have a look at it and think it through.”
Cramb said she plans to take the compensation money and reinvest it into her business and intends to move back into the space once the building’s renovations are complete.
City clerk Chris Jackson said staff will review Cramb’s request and report back to council with options at a future meeting.
