Permit me to sell without a permit for I am only six years old.
These "Authorities" need to have a good hard look at themselves.
Not to mention the F@#%ing neighbor.
LINK TO STORY
NAPLES, June 18, 2003 - A six-year-old girl was heartbroken when her small lemonade stand was put out of business because she didn’t have a temporary business permit. A neighbor called the police and her stand was shut down.
"Gotta get ready for the sale,” said Abagail.
Even though she’s only 6 years old, Abagail prepares for another day at work.
"We like making money at our lemonade stand. We want it to stay cold so they can have cold lemonade on hot days,” she said.
A young entrepreneur who does the cleaning even the advertising. And it is paying off.
"We are making lots of tips in our tip jar,” said Abagail.
But a few days ago, Abagail and her friends were put out of business by a neighbor.
"We didn't have a permit so she called the cops,” said Abagail.
The police arrived and shut her down.
"We had to take down our lemonade stand,” said Abagail.
Abagail did not have a temporary business permit, which is technically a city violation.
"So we had to do something else to play,” said Abagail.
"I was kind of shocked because I didn't know we needed a permit for 6 year old girls to sell lemonade,” said K.C. Shaw, Abagail’s mom.
According to the city, they have to act on a formal complaint.
"Normally we don't get involved in it but once we do get a formal request we must take action,” said Al Hogrefe of the city of Naples.
So Abagail’s mom went to the city code enforcement office with wallet in hand, prepared to buy a permit.
"$35 every single time for a single use,” said Shaw.
Not wanting to be sour, the city played Mr. Niceguy.
"No we did not charge her, no,” said Hogrefe.
They did finally get the permit.
"Basically a blank check to have as many lemonade stands as we can stand,” said Shaw.
So Abagail is back in business and learned laws can be tough, even for a six year old's lemonade stand.
Shaw said the police officers who shut down the stand felt terrible, but they had to do their job. One of the officers even bought a glass of lemonade from Abagail.