Kids Fined $500 Following Lemonade Stand Shut Down — Deserving?

With the U.S. Open golf tournament entering its third day in the city of Bethesda, Maryland, home town entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the crowds converging on their city. Many residents make a pretty penny selling parking spots near the venue, but a group of kids decided to strut their business chops and open up an ole’ fashioned lemonade stand. Shortly after, their operation was shut down and fined $500 by the local Montgomery county due to “operating a lemonade stand without a permit.”

Following a report from WUSA9 on Tuesday, we initially learned that two families involved in selling lemonade were shut down due to lack of proper permits. Jennifer Hughes, director of permitting, reminds the public that “it’s technically illegal to run even the smallest lemonade stand in the county, but inspectors usually don’t go looking for them.“

Both parties had plenty to say. The families that fell victim to the scolding questioned the overbearingness, asking the inspector questions like, “Does every kid who sells lemonade now have to register with the county?”

The story is classic — kids doing something cute and showing initiative — in swoops an overbearing government with their red tape. Need more fuel? The kids/families were raising money to fight pediatric cancer. Late Friday afternoon, the county changed its stance on the punishment, waiving the $500 fine.

Justifying the initial fine, the county mentioned that the lemonade stand was not your run-of-the-mill cute wooden desk operation. The families were serving bottled drinks out of 4 large coolers, situated under a 10×10 tent. The operation was moved to a safer, more private street, a response to the initial problems the county had brought up with the lemonade stand.

An example of media making a mountain out of a mole hill? Or should we be upset with the government’s initial reaction?