Forums → WEPR → Zoning Law Prevents 13 Year Old From Selling Hot Dogs
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Back in July, a zoning officer shut down Mich's hot dog stand.
Nathan is a 13 year old boy who's parents are both on disability. His mother suffers from epilepsy and his father has multiple sclerosis. Nathan decided he wanted to help his parents out, so his parents allowed him to sell hot dogs. Nathan gained permission from Reliable Sports to sell hot dogs on their property, that way, they could help each other attract customers.
The food cart wasn't open for 10 minutes before a a zoning officer shut his cart down.
Greg Robinson, City of Holland Assistant Manager, explains the reason behind the zoning law. According to Greg Robinson, the only food carts allowed are those connected to "brick-and-mortar"* restaurants. According to this *******, we can't have kids competing with existing businesses!
* I'm assuming 'brick-and-mortar' restaurants refers to restaurants that exist within an actual building.
It's OKAY to compete with a business after buying a building, paying taxes associated with owning a building, having to pay for costly maintenance, and finally bills associated with owning a whole entire building. But if you have a cheap hot dog cart and you're on property that's already being paid for, then APPARENTLY it's not fair to those who have to pay all those extra costs. God forbid we support efficiency.
The kid has his hot dog stand shut down, because it's wrong to compete with other businesses and decrease their profits. But, it's perfectly okay to prevent people, such as the kid, from making money at all!
YouTube Video - Hooray!
Oh, and guess what, Nathan and his family are now HOMELESS.
Homelessness! WOO!
Last week, Nathan and his family made an appeal to the Holland City Council. Mayor Kurt Dykstra defended the cityâs ordinance, saying it was to protect downtown restaurant owners, who asked that the "success of the downtown district not be infringed upon by those who don't share in the costs of maintaining the attractiveness of that space."
They property Nathan was selling his hot dogs on was owned by the retailer who pays those extra costs! It would be a different story if the kid was on his own property where he wasn't paying taxes, but he's already on taxed property! There's no sense in taxing the same property twice, once for the kid and once for the retailer!
Anyone who wants to start a business should be allowed to start said business. It really doesn't matter how old they are or the state their family is in. Nathan is just a prime example of how good people get screwed over.