The Town of Smithers has been given the dubious Paperweight Award for its infamous sidewalk to nowhere.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business gave out 10 of these awards this year to, as they put it, "highlight outrageous red tape hassles weighing down small business."
"These are the kinds of legislation that exasperate us all, especially you, the small business owner. Not the regulations designed to protect Canadians, but the type of bureaucratic rules and processes that place undue cost on businesses without serving any purpose whatsoever," explained the award page.
North Central Plumbing and Heating was on the hook for the sidewalk after triggering a bylaw that requires businesses to build sidewalks in front of their property with any renovations or building projects over $75,000.
The owner offered to pay $10,000 in lieu of building the sidewalk -- the amount spent on the sidewalk -- but was rejected. Council did not believe that was within the rules, and most believed building the sidewalk along Frontage Road a piece at a time was the best way to proceed.
Council later decided to raise the $75,000 bylaw trigger amount to $100,000.
Town staff have since dutifully been maintaining the sidewalk and clearing snow off it.
Mayor Taylor Bachrach said at a public meeting on Sept. 1 that completing the sidewalk along that length of the Frontage Road would cost $100,000, and if the Town were to do the work itself, it would have to raise the money via a three per cent tax increase.
A plan to connect the 30-metre chunk of concrete to the sidewalk network with a "sidewalk-ready" gravel path at a cost of $140,000 was delayed to 2018.
The stories of all this year's recipients are available on the CFIB website.