It has recently come to light that the Wolf Tree Coffee Company, a treasured local business, has been directed to relocate due to complaints about the aroma emitted during their production process. This relocation forced upon Wolf Tree Coffee is more than just a challenge, it's a threat to the livelihood of their family, and negative for its stakeholders, which includes local businesses, local schools through fundraising collaborations, foreign workers through ethical practices, and users of the environment thanks to their sustainability efforts. It is reasonable for the municipality to take neighbourhood complaints into account, and to enforce by-laws. It is not reasonable to order a small business to overhaul its business model and make significant investment within a brief timeframe.

According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (2020), relocating businesses face expenditures that can jeopardize small companies, often requiring years to recoup those costs. Equally distressing is the societal impact. Losing local businesses can result in lost community identity and economic disadvantages. Oliver residents proudly love and support our local coffee company; it would be such a shame for government action to kill their family business. We request the authorities and concerned neighbours to arrive at a compromise solution that protects both the interests of the local residents and Wolf Tree Coffee Company. It's time for a creative, thoughtful approach rather than an ultimatum. Please sign this petition to support a fair compromise for the Wolf Tree Coffee Company.

What does petition victory look like? When Wolf Tree is offered new alternatives from the Town of Oliver that aren't an existential threat, victory will be declared.

The following is a comment from the Town of Oliver in response to the public backlash:

"The information online about the Town’s decision to issue a short-term business license for Wolf Tree Coffee is incomplete. The staff recommendation to Council to allow Wolf Tree Coffee to extend their operations until the end of May 2025, was thoroughly researched by staff and discussed with the business owner in advance of our regular council meeting in December.

Please refer to the staff report on page 245 of the agenda for a background on the recommendation approved by Council. 

Link: https://pub-oliver.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.ashx?DocumentId=6113

The recorded meeting can be found on the Town website.

Link: pub-oliver.escribemeetings.com/Players/ISIStandAlonePlayer.aspx?Id=fb8d7802-6bdf-464e-9b3b-345ac7f963cf starts at 46:06.

Staff reviewed our Zoning Bylaw No. 1423, reached out to surrounding municipalities and discussed the matter with our legal representative. We prepared and hand delivered a letter to the business owner on October 25, 2024, letting them know that the RS1 zone allows for Home Occupations as an accessory use, but it does not allow Home Industry. The letter mentions that we have “received complaints from multiple residents in the vicinity of the property”. In conversations with other homeowners in the area, the odour has been observed along the full extent of Bellevue Drive, Mountainview Drive and even to residents along Meadows Drive depending on weather conditions. The odour from coffee roasting is much different than the odour of coffee brewing. A quick Google search will provide you with some comparisons, along with the potentially hazardous byproducts of coffee roasting.

Our CAO reached out to the business owner in November 2024 and followed up that conversation with options that would allow the owner to extend their non-complying use while looking for an alternative location. The first option was for the owner to apply for a three-month business licence extension to March 31, 2025. The second option was to apply for a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) for a period of one to three years, with a commitment of purchasing and installing afterburner technology to reduce the odour. Council approval of either option would still result in the owner relocating to a properly zoned location in the future. The business owner decided to apply for a five-month extension to May 31, 2025, to use up their existing inventory. 

If you would like to discuss this further, please arrange a meeting by contacting admin@oliver.ca."

This letter was submitted by Wolf Tree to Council, which can be found in the first Town link above:

"We are writing in regards to the recent news that we are in contravention of zoning bylaws. We disagree with this assessment as we do not believe that roasting beans is considered ‘manufacturing’. There are no health risks involved and it’s non toxic, unlike your average dryer sheet or wood burning stove/fireplace. This has all come as a surprise to us as we have not attempted to hide the nature of our business and have been issued a business license from the town, without incident, for the last 8 years. Our business was also initially inspected by both the Building Inspector and the Director of Development Services and given a passing grade.

Another surprise was that there was no attempt made to mitigate the situation through us first. Currently we only roast twice a week and keep it under 4 hours each time. We would have been happy to discuss changing times, changing frequency, and a few other cost effective options that would have definitely helped. Instead our only option now is to move or to purchase a piece of equipment that is $30,000USD.

We are not Tim Horton’s or Starbucks, we are small business owners that work other jobs and try to make this work on the side. Much like everyone else in this economy, we buy things as we can afford them. We spent our savings taking over this company last year and were under the impression that we could continue as is until we were big enough to move one day.

We have had to start looking elsewhere for possible business locations, which will in turn triple our overhead costs and put our small business at risk of closure. Like most small businesses, we run pretty close to the line. Our overhead increase would effectively cancel any profit that we might make. So then what’s the point?

Wolf Tree Coffee is a huge part of the community and (we think) adds beautifully to the tapestry that is Oliver. We are very active in fundraising and community events. We support students, veterans, and athletes. We recently started sponsoring a coffee cart at Oliver Elementary School to help raise money for various student programs. It would be heartbreaking to have to now cut them off.

Not every town has a roastery and it’s a real draw for people! We get dozens of calls from tourists every season that want to come check out the roaster and see what it’s all about. This draw extends to the 8+ businesses that sell and serve our coffee just in this town! 8+ businesses that would then have to source their coffee from elsewhere.

It saddens us that someone’s complaint is enough to run businesses out of town. With so many other hurdles to overcome with owning a small business, we weren’t expecting the town that we love and support to be the ones to kick us out.

With hope and a tinge of sadness,
Wolf Tree Coffee"