mister anchovy - licensed to busk?
I called City Hall this morning to find out about busking permits. I figure one won't get me back into St. Lawrence Market but it may help me avoid getting chased away from other venues this summer. The nice person on the phone said, just come on down and give us the 35 bones and we'll give you a permit...so I did.
The person I talked to at the licensing office, however, told me I had wasted my time coming down today because permits are April to April, so if I bought one today it would only be good for a couple weeks before I would have to get another one. You would think the person I spoke to on the phone would have told me to chill for a couple weeks. BUT NO....
.
So I asked if perhaps they could simply forward date my permit. The lady said she couldn't do that because I might try to use the permit before April 1. I said, look, all sorts of people busk without permits....I'm trying to be a fine upstanding guy doing the right thing here. Surely if the permit is dated April 1 and I did try to busk prior to that date, and a bylaw enforcement officer happened to out nabbing errant buskers, and I got caught......that I would endure the same penalty without a permit as I would with a forward-dated permit.
Be reasonable I said.
Sir, it's the law.
I wouldn't want you to break the law.
Let me say that the next mayoralty candidate who runs on a platform of eliminating stupid bureaucracy gets my vote.
So, I will go back after April 1.... and I will be licensed to busk!
5 comments:
Yeah... just make sure when you get there that they don't say you should have applied in writing no more than 10 days in advance of April 1. You just know it could happen, right?
Are there rules attached to this permit? Year back I had a permit to busk at 'South Street Sea-Port'. But the permit was only good for specific spots at specific times. Is the permit you're going to get for ANYWHERE in your town?
Saw Lady
www.SawLady.com/blog
There are a few restrictions. I can't busk on the sidewalks along the Eatons Centre during the day except at lunchtime. I can't block sidewalks, and I have to stay away from corners and other buskers. It doesn't apply to areas that are in other jurisdictions - like the Harbourfront Centre grounds, and it doesn't apply to subways, which is a whole separate deal.
Absurd situation isn't it? It's a bad early April fools joke I guess.
Oh good Criky. Sounds like government. Why do anything efficiently?
Glad you are patient enough to go back!
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