In my new job with Prince William County Development Services Department (permitting). Previously (and for the past 30 years) I practiced economic development, which is the business of "why".
Permitting is the business of "how". It can be complex and quite interesting. I continue developing the infamous 30 second elevator speech (you know, what do you do). Right now I can certainly explain it, but not in a tight and coherent 30 second response.
My exploration and quest of knowledge about the local permitting is ongoing. Sometimes it appears as common sense. An example? Continue. As you read this column you might think it is a joke or a parody. Let me assure you, it is not.
Now normally I do not post entire articles on my blog. However, this is different. It is an excellent column by Ms. Rachel Greszler about the challenges of permitting a lemonade stand in Montgomery County, MD. The article appeared in the Washington Post.
It’s time for Maryland to stop criminalizing kids’
lemonade stands
A children’s lemonade stand is moved
in Bethesda after the stand’s operators were warned by the Montgomery County
Department of Permitting Services in 2011. (Amanda Voisard/The Washington Post)
By Rachel Greszler
Feb. 7, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EST
Rachel
Greszler is a research fellow in economics, budget and entitlements for the
Heritage Foundation and the mother of six lemonade stand-loving children.
It’s hard to find
fault with a kids’ lemonade stand. In fact, I can’t help but smile when I see
one.
But in some places,
it is literally a crime to operate a lemonade stand on your own property unless
you’ve first gotten all the required government licenses and permits. Same
thing if you’re thinking about selling hot chocolate or any other beverage.
In fact, about a mile
up the road from my home, Montgomery County authorities shut down a lemonade stand
in a front yard because the kids were operating without a permit. Officials
slapped their family with a $500 fine. So much for the kids’ plan to donate 50
percent of their profits to a pediatric cancer charity.
After a public outcry
over this action, county officials dropped the charges and the fine. But the
law criminalizing unlicensed lemonade stands hasn’t changed.
Maryland’s health
code makes it a crime to operate a “food establishment” (which includes a
lemonade stand) that does not comply with the state’s licensing requirements.
The first offense is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and 90 days in
prison. A second offense carries up to a $2,500 fine and one-year imprisonment.
In addition to these
criminal penalties (which typically fall on the parents of children operating
unlicensed lemonade stands), the children themselves are liable for up to
$5,000 in civil penalties.
So what would kids
and parents need to do to operate a legal lemonade stand? It’s not entirely
clear, but in Montgomery County, it could require obtaining as many as six
licenses and permits:
1. A sidewalk vendor
license;
2. A site-specific
vendors license;
3. A limited duration
sign permit;
4. An awning or
canopy permit;
5. A mobile food
service unit license; and
6. A special food
service facility license for temporary events.
What 6- or
10-year-old has the wherewithal to do all that? And what parent is going to go
through all that hassle just so their kids can have fun and make a buck?
Putting kids’
lemonade stands out of business isn’t the same as ending a person’s livelihood,
but it’s nonetheless disturbing and lamentable.
Operating a lemonade
stand teaches kids all sorts of valuable life lessons. For starters, they have
to work together, divvying up jobs of making the sign, setting up the table,
making the lemonade and obtaining the cups.
Then there are the
economics and math lessons involved in pricing the lemonade and making change
for customers.
And attracting and
interacting with customers can help build kids’ interpersonal skills. I know my
more reserved children have learned a thing or two from watching their more
outgoing siblings actively recruit customers and strike up conversations with
neighbors.
In fact, running a
lemonade stand is such a well-established and well-regarded rite of passage,
it’s even integrated in childhood development curriculums. Among my kids’
after-school activity programs is a “My First Lemonade Stand” course, which aims to “empower kids with
an entrepreneurial mindset” while introducing them to the disciplines of
finance, strategy and marketing.
Fortunately, the
Maryland legislature is considering bipartisan
legislation that would bar localities from adopting or enforcing
regulations on the sale of lemonade and other nonalcoholic beverages by minors
on private property.
With Maryland’s new
slogan and welcome signs touting “We’re Open for Business,” it’s time to stop
criminalizing children’s lemonade stands and let them enjoy this common
childhood pastime while learning a thing or two about business.
