Posted on 08/11/2012 7:40:45 AM PDT by mom4kittys
Nathan Duszynski, a 13-year-old whose hot dog cart was shut down by city officials in Holland, Mich., is now homeless, along with his disabled parents.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy first reported the story.
Nathan had saved up money for a hot dog cart to help his parents pay their bills. His mother suffers from epilepsy and his father suffers from multiple sclerosis, limiting their ability to work.
The family survives on $1,300 a month in disability assistance, food stamps and medicaid, but has struggled to stay afloat.
“Nate and I are now in a shelter,” Nathan’s mother Lynette Johnson said.
“[Nathan’s father] can’t stay with us because he takes prescription narcotics to deal with his pain and the shelter does not allow him with those kinds of drugs,” she said.
The 13-year-old had worked out an arrangement to sell hot dogs in the parking lot of a local sporting goods store. His mom felt the location was great since it was on private property, so his age wouldn’t be an impediment.
Before opening up shop, Johnson said, they stopped by city hall, just across the street from the cart’s location, to ask if they needed a permit to sell food. His mother explained that a woman at city hall told her no permit was necessary.
The business was short-lived and the city of Holland shut down the stand 10 minutes after it opened. Zoning officials cited laws that prohibit food carts in the commercial district that are not connected to downtown brick and mortar restaurants.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Hoping that Nathan can be successful with special events.
Nate..you did NOT build that small business.
So hard for kids ...sad
This was a follow up in the comments section—don’t know f it is true...This is the reason for my post on wishing success for special events.
Apparently a packaging company heard about what happened and bought the cart for $2500 and are letting him use the cart for special occassions, he has a wedding lined up to use the cart at, he wanted to start the small business to help his parents and save money for college. I have a feeling this kid will be ok, he seems enterprising, motivated and capable.
I think you are right about the kid’s character, I hope the report about the packaging company is true.
Exactly why some gov't bureaucrat will have to find some way to crush him
This young man shows great character for his age. I would have thought someone would have told him about the zoning laws, but then, what can you expect from government?
I don’t know if Holland city hall is D or R, but the lack of compassion makes me think it’s D.
With $2500.00 collected 2 or 3 weeks ago, and with 2 parents collecting disability checks, and with food stamps helping with food, how can these people be homeless?
This story is missing something.
Now Obama's feds will be after him for income taxes on the profit he made selling the cart.
Actually this has a lot more to do with the other local businesses running to government to protect them from this rogue Jr Businessman.
A sporting goods store let him set up the cart in his lot but the neighbors got their panties in a wad and ran to the city.
Sometimes, business deserves the government they get.
Initiative being crushed in our budding entrepreneurs. God help us.
As I explained in this earlier thread. Its a horror show trying to start a business in Michigan and its made worse by our fellow “businessmen” running to government to protect them from competition.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2916935/posts
“With $2500.00 collected 2 or 3 weeks ago, and with 2 parents collecting disability checks, and with food stamps helping with food, how can these people be homeless?”
Why must you pour water over this sob story?
“its made worse by our fellow “businessmen” running to government to protect them from competition.”
Hogwash. Other businesses play by the rule, including tremendous amount of red tape, but this sob-story kid comes in and expects special treatment?
Everybody must play by the rule, regardless of their parents’ diseases.
So the owner of the sporting goods store can’t even make his own decision to let the kid sell in his parking lot? He was even willing to give the kid a commission on sales made in the store.
Thank God we have brave nazis like you to dictate what we can do.
From the article: Zoning officials cited laws that prohibit food carts in the commercial district that are not connected to downtown brick and mortar restaurants.
Sounds like squatting in the parking lot kinda violates zoning laws. Just saying.
Then they shouldn’t have given him the permit in the first place. Yes he had the required permits until your nazi brethren got their panties in a wad over it.
Sounds more like anti-competition, rent-seeking influence buying.
“Then they shouldn’t have given him the permit in the first place. Yes he had the required permits until your nazi brethren got their panties in a wad over it.”
They are correcting their mistakes, so it is you who is getting her panties in a wad over a sob, politically charged, story.
Maybe that's the Duszynskis' problem.
Parking lots are for parking cars, not leasing spaces. That bit is clear according to the town’s explicit zoning laws. Tomorrow, the parking lot could have a circus, outdoor veggie garden, a chicken farm, and another sob story to cry over.
If they truly want businesses in the parking lots, change the laws.
Oh, and I ain't crying Sparky.
“I don’t know where you live, but I see all kinds of sales, flea markets, fireworks stands, food trucks, etc in parking lots. Maybe I’m just more exposed to freedom than you are.
Oh, and I ain’t crying Sparky.”
Where you live, there are not zoning laws. In Holland’s case, they clearly do. Are you to tell a town what your idea of “freedom” is by forcing them to overlook their zoning laws?
No, I avoid petty fiefdoms like this place. They're boring, staid places where the young people leave at the first chance.
Trust me, Holland MI is about as ambitious a place as Greece.
What guild do you belong to?
I really do not disagree with you on that. May be the kid is better off leaving that place and go where his parking lot stall is allowed.
You’d like my little town. When the county was trying to get the townships to impose a series of ordinances against burning, unlicensed cars etc, our township supervisor said it would be pointless because the people would just ignore the ordinances anyway.
LOL
And I see the need for zoning laws of some sort. Admittedly, it’s a difficult balance.
By what right do these corrupt government bureaucrats have to dictate to us and to businesses what we must do, what business we can open , what we can buy ( like healthcare that we must and a soda that we can't)? That is not freedom that is tyranny. To hell with all government bureaucrats . they are the enemy. they have no right to tell anyone what age they can work , or what business can be opened (like chik fil at) or what size soda you can drink or that you must buy health insurance.
Government at all levels must be reduced to almost nothing. that means immediately abolishing the IRS, then the EPA, then the government schools. And then keep going at all levels of government until 99% of these freedom robbing and prosperity killing government agencies ( monstrosities) are no more.
Why do democrats trust government? Look at the hell that government created with the government public housing projects, the government schools, the IRS , the EPA, shall I go on?
This is America. Give me liberty or give me death. I hate government and government bureaucrats
Should zoning laws be criminalized? They are in Montana.
Selective enforcement is dicktatorship(sic).
The comments about the $2500 were written “after” the story was written.
Some folks are all about law and order, until they read crap like this. So, I am all for free enterprise, but the town has a right to limit outdoor vendors as well. This is nothing new. If the kid went to the town hall to get. License, he would have found this out. And yes, I think kids that set up a professional food stand should be held to the same standards s anyone else.
From the article at the top of the thread, in plain view:
"Before opening up shop, Johnson said, they stopped by city hall, just across the street from the cart’s location, to ask if they needed a permit to sell food. His mother explained that a woman at city hall told her no permit was necessary."
The story was written yesterday, the cart was sold at a huge profit at least weeks ago according to TV news stories. I don’t know when this strange story actually started.
July 27, 2012 “A packaging company heard about the boy’s troubles and bought the truck for $2,500. That’s a lot more than Duszynski paid for it.”
(snip)
“The company plans to let Duszynski use the cart for special occasions, such as the wedding he already has lined up.”
You're right. I understand the situation of businessmen in a small, shrinking town, but government should not be eliminating competition for them.
More business is a good thing.
I’ve also got a real problem with local businessmen or anyone else dictating what happens on a public street.
A few years ago in Oakland Michigan an organizer of a street festival declared that open carry would not be tolerated because they had paid for closing the street. The city council sided with the event organizers but it didn’t take long before they dropped it and decided to “allow” open carry at the event.
In this case its obviously different but its still no way to teach this kid about free market entrepreneurship. Plus there’s the issue of the sporting goods store that welcomed him, He does pay the taxes.
If I recall from the original story, the state or township did give him a permit but the city was where he ran into problems. My township only requires the state permits but we don’t have enough people here to make any money.
The health and safety requirements on that type of stand are pretty minimal but still far too expensive. A 4 basin wash station, keep the hot dogs above a certain temperature and toss them at the end of the day.
BINGO!!!
Correct. Licensing, zoning and permitting all work to keep the status quo and the entrepreneur out.
Obviously the basic health and safety stuff is good but beyond that its pointless and little more than local protectionism and a source of money for bureaucracies.
The only brick and mortar business in my little town is the party store. The owner opened because he wasn’t hit with a whole new round permits for the township. He owns two other party stores over toward Detroit. He says that closing the 3rd gave him a chance to get out from permits where that store was and open this one that gets a fraction of the business yet brings in a greater profit. (and he doesn’t have to work behind bulletproof glass here)
Merchantability is a natural outgrowth of human interaction and is ensconced in common law. I’ve been to restaurant kitchens just after health inspections and I cannot see that they do any good.
What really happens is that the regulators are politically compromised by the regulated. It’s the normal course of business. I buy food from street vendors all the time. I’ve never been sick and I’ve never asked to see their license, MSDS’s, food safety procedures, etc.
Control freaks, liberals and Democrats, but I repeat myself, don’t trust human beings. They’re the gods that would be. Imagine a bank without any FDIC insurance. What would you do? You’d look to some rating agency, look to the banks public records, and ask mavens which bank is best/safest. Creating simple rules transparency and then letting consumers act is the surest way to keep society safe. Torts and public opinion will do the rest. Particularly in the modern age with all the information tech we have.
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