City staff have turned around a report outlining ways by which council could change its bylaw regulating second-hand dealers and pawn shops.
The report comes on the heels of an Aug. 25 presentation by downtown business owner Kelsy Polnik, who expressed concerns about the restrictions the current legislation places on his Game Quest store.
Polnik requested the city look at the sections of the bylaw requiring a 30-day holding period between getting products and being able to sell them and the restrictions on where products can be acquired and at what hours they can be sold.
Among the options city council can choose from during tonight's meeting are to exclude video game discs/cartridges from the bylaw's definition of "second-hand property" and treat them the same as books, vinyl records and cassette tapes; reduce the holding period for games from 30 days to seven or 14 days; allow individual businesses to apply to the RCMP for exemptions on both the holding period for particular items and on the hours items can be received - specifically after 8 p.m. - on a case-by-case basis; and to set a minimum monetary value for games that have to be reported to the RCMP.
According to the staff report, the local RCMP are not in favour of changes to the bylaw that would get in the way of stolen property investigations.
"Specifically, the RCMP is of the view that reducing the 30-day hold time, allowing for business to be done outside any licensed establishment, or extending business hours to midnight, would each hinder the RCMP in their effort to reduce stolen property crime," said the report.
Out of 452 break and enters reported to the Prince George RCMP between Jan. 1 and Aug. 27, 17 involved the theft of video games, game consoles or accessories, according to the report to council. That number doesn't include data from other thefts such as thefts from vehicles or shoplifting cases.
The RCMP also told city staff that it usually takes seven days for information about what was stolen to make it to the officer responsible for monitoring the incoming inventory of second-hand stores and pawn dealers.
A review of the rules in seven other communities - Kelowna, Vernon, Kamloops, Nanaimo, Surrey, Port Coquitlam and Abbotsford - found that none exempted video games or video game systems from the definition of second-hand property; they all have similar restrictions on keeping all buying and selling on store property; Prince George sits in the middle of the time limit with Abbostford and Surrey allowing sales until 6 p.m. while Nanaimo allows sales until midnight; and all except Port Coquitlam have a 30-day holding period.
