ST. ALBERT- The City of St. Albert plans to appeal a recent ruling striking down a bylaw that restricts the sale of drug paraphernalia.
The bylaw was introduced in April 2012, after city council received a petition from concerned parents. The bylaw includes several components aimed at keeping youths out of stores that sell drug paraphernalia.
The bylaw requires all stores to have frosted windows and be adult-only stores. Those under the age of 18 are prohibited from shopping in these types of stores.
"I specifically went into all the businesses and observed what was being done, and I saw 12 and 13-year-olds in there shopping and they're not shopping for barbie dolls and tinker toys, they're shopping for the drug paraphernalia," explained the Mayor of St. Albert, Nolan Crouse.
Another aspect of the bylaw prohibits St. Albert businesses from displaying or selling more than two products from a list of banned items, including pipes, marijuana grinders or products displaying an image of a marijuana leaf.
"Those products can be sold individually. They can keep the products in their store. They just can't all be displayed in front of the customer, because collectively they tell a story," Crouse explained. "So you have to ask the question, is that the kind of shopping environment that you want your children to be exposed to? And the parents in the community, by the petition we received, it was evident that there was a request for council to do something."
In a written decision released Jan. 11, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Terry Clackson said the amendment to the business licence bylaw "must be struck down" because the legislation fell outside the jurisdiction of the municipality.
"In my view the amending bylaw has the look and feel of morality legislation," Clackson wrote. "The amending bylaw has the look and feel of a statement that 'this kind of thing isn't going to happen in my city.'"
Mayor Crouse says the matter is now out of council's hands.
"As far as the appeal is concerned, that's a legal decision, really up to our legal staff and our city manager."
The City issued a release Friday, stating it will file an appeal by Monday, January 21.
"The City has decided to appeal the ruling because we find that the Justice failed to consider that these regulations form part of a comprehensive and legal system of business licensing," City Manager Patrick Draper said in the release.
With files from Jenna Bridges, Global News, and Postmedia News.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.