County Government Shuts Down 7 Year Olds Lemonade Stand - Demands $120 Licensing Fee

[Patranus]

It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.

So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise last week for operating without a license, you might just sigh and say, there they go again.

Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license.

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/portland_lemonade_stand_runs_i.html

Aren't you glad that we have government looking out for us?
Another job destroyed by the government.

 

[Genx87]

Evil corporation got what it deserved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[her209]

Aren't you glad that we have government looking out for us?
Another job destroyed by the government.

Sounds like this is a county issue.

Oh, and "states rights!"

 

[MotF Bane]

Sounds like this is a county issue.

Oh, and "states rights!"

A problem of big government at all levels.

 

[Patranus]

Sounds like this is a county issue.

Oh, and "states rights!"

What part of my post contained the word "federal" or "state"?

 

[Murloc]

serving drinks is a big responsability, what if someone puts poison in it?

 

[dfuze]

Didn't this same thing happen in another state last year?

 

[shira]

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/08/portland_lemonade_stand_runs_i.html

Aren't you glad that we have government looking out for us?
Another job destroyed by the government.

So, if I were to try to open a lemonade stand at the art fair, and the authorities required that I first obtain a license, would that upset you? Or do you feel that a business operated by a 7-year-old should receive a special government-provided advantage over a business operated by an adult?

 

[drebo]

So, if I were to try to open a lemonade stand at the art fair, and the authorities required that I first obtain a license, would that upset you? Or do you feel that a business operated by a 7-year-old should receive a special government-provided advantage over a business operated by an adult?

Requiring a $120 "temporary restaurant license" for someone who is selling refreshments at a fair is stupid, regardless of who is selling the refreshments.

 

[Throckmorton]

Send her to Gitmo

 

[waggy]

meh

IF this was in front of her house she would have a right ot bitch. But she was at a fair. If you want a business there get a damn permit. just because she is 7 does not give her the right to get away with something others have to do.

now i do think $120 to sale refreshments is insane.

 

[WHAMPOM]

What part of my post contained the word "federal" or "state"?

They absence of "local" in your your usual faux-outrageous tirade.

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

I think she should be thrown in jail and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. That will teach her and will also serve as a good example to others who might dare to defy 'The Man'.

 

[ayabe]

OMG Now the Kenyan is trying to regulate lemonade, We the People have spoken and demand the return of patent medicine and unregulated lemonade!

 

[Fern]

meh

IF this was in front of her house she would have a right ot bitch. But she was at a fair. If you want a business there get a damn permit. just because she is 7 does not give her the right to get away with something others have to do.

now i do think $120 to sale refreshments is insane.

^This.

You can't be at a 'fair' and expect there to be no regulation.

She's a 'food vendor', and it's legit to impose standards on food vendors. They can't let her slide just because she's a kid. All the other food vendors need licences etc., so does she.

Fern

 

[BoberFett]

^This.

You can't be at a 'fair' and expect there to be no regulation.

She's a 'food vendor', and it's legit to impose standards on food vendors. They can't let her slide just because she's a kid. Al the other food vendors needs licences etc., so does she.

Fern

If you drive a car I’ll tax the street;
If you try to sit, sit I’ll tax your seat;
If you get too cold I’ll tax the heat;
If you take a walk I'll tax your feet.

Cause I’m the taxman!
Yeah, I’m the taxman!

 

[shira]

Requiring a $120 "temporary restaurant license" for someone who is selling refreshments at a fair is stupid, regardless of who is selling the refreshments.

I don't know about you, but at the fairs I go too, selling lemonade is big business. On hot days, people are lined up 10 deep at the lemonade concessions. At $2 to $4 a glass, you can easily make $500 profit in a single day.

You got something against profit?

 

[BoberFett]

I don't know about you, but at the fairs I go too, selling lemonade is big business. On hot days, people are lined up 10 deep at the lemonade concessions. At $2 to $4 a glass, you can easily make $500 profit in a single day.

You got something against profit?

The sign in the story says 50 cents. I'm sure she's raking it in.

"I understand the reason behind what they're doing and it's a neighborhood event, and they're trying to generate revenue," said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. "But we still need to put the public's health first."

Sounds like it's a small community driven event, not a county fair.

Land of the free my ass.

 

[waggy]

T
Sounds like it's a small community driven event, not a county fair.

Land of the free my ass.

so its a small community fair. big deal.

they have rules. you want a refreshment stand y0ou pay the $120 fee. nobody is forcing her to do it or saying she can't have a stand. She just needs to obey the rules just like EVERY refreshment stand in the fair.

if she wants to put one up in her driveway great. but that is not the case.

 

[classy]

If she needs a license, she needs a license. I find nothing wrong with the health inspectors. They did their job.

 

[Exterous]

^This.

You can't be at a 'fair' and expect there to be no regulation.

She's a 'food vendor', and it's legit to impose standards on food vendors. They can't let her slide just because she's a kid. Al the other food vendors needs licences etc., so does she.

Fern

Yeah - I was annoyed until I found out that it was at a fair.

Also - anyone else notice that the article seemed to have a lot of unnecessary attempted emotional background to the story?

 

[Doc Savage Fan]

It's sad to see these glimpses of just how ugly we have become.

 

[StageLeft]

Sounded criminal to me in stupidity but she was not selling on her driveway but rather a high traffic event in some public space, right? In which case it sounds a little more reasonable. I mean, replace her with an adult would you say the same thing? Probably you would say the permit was reasonable then.

 

[shira]

The sign in the story says 50 cents. I'm sure she's raking it in.

Well, since she hasn't been paying that $120 licensing fee, I imagine her overhead is pretty low.

On the other hand, lemons are at least 50 cents apiece in most supermarkets. Hell, even at Costco a 5-pound bag is $5.50, and that's for maybe 14 lemons at most.

When I make fresh lemonade, I use the juice of one entire lemon per (big) glass. So if this girl is REALLY selling lemonade for 50 cents a glass either (a) it's not the REAL stuff, made fresh, or (b) she's watering down her product. So, sounds like she needs some competition to keep the public happy. And fair competition means she should be paying the same fees that any other lemonade vendor has to pay.

 

[KDOG]

I can see needing a permit for a public event like that, but $120??? WTF?