Council to consider law inspired by lemonade stand flap

On Wednesday, the Naples City Council is set to vote on a law that allows children's lemonade stands and other similar American traditions to operate without a business license.

While some argue about the necessity of such a law, supporters say it will clear up confusion that ensued after a neighborhood spat in June blew up into a big gulp of bad publicity for Naples.

It all started when Avigayil's neighbor on 11th Avenue South called the police to complain about her license-less lemonade stand. Police responded, and Avigayil's mother agreed to shut down the stand and get a permit. Sympathetic city officials waived the $35 fee.

Soon, though, the story of a city that busted a lemonade stand was everywhere, getting air time on CNN, Fox, MSNBC and Rush Limbaugh's radio show -- even earning the little entrepreneur a guest spot on "The Late Show with David Letterman."

Some City Council members said Friday they thought the dispute over lemonade stand licensing had been cleared up and were surprised to see the lemonade stand law on this week's agendas. Besides Wednesday's vote, the law is set for discussion at a Monday workshop.

City Councilwoman Tamela Wiseman went further than surprise, saying she was "annoyed" to see it on the agenda.

Passing a law about lemonade stands will do nothing but resurrect last summer's "whole silly mess," she said.

She said she would like the City Council to confront bigger issues as time runs out on her term, which expires in February along with the terms of Mayor Bonnie MacKenzie and Councilmen Gary Galleberg and Bill MacIlvaine.

To bolster her case, she pointed to another vote Wednesday on a law to protect squirrel monkeys that hang out in the trees near the Collier Athletic Club off Goodlette-Frank Road.

She said she will vote against the lemonade stand law on the grounds that it inserts government regulation where common sense should reign.

"I feel like we're just wasting our time," she said. "It's silly government and I don't want any part of it."

The law says "minors engaging in occasional sales or performing casual services on private property with the owner's permission or as part of a club, school or charitable activity" don't need a business license.

It defines occasional sales as the operation of a nonalcoholic drink stand or the sale of cookies or candy. Casual services means lawn mowing, car washing or other odd jobs, according to the law.

MacKenzie called the new law a "good thing to do."

"When you find the language in your law is not clear, I think it's your obligation to change it so it is clear and I think this does that," she said Friday.

City Manager Bob Lee said the city would apply good judgment however the City Council deals with the proposed law.

What does Avigayil's mother, K.C. Shaw, think of all this?

Shaw said she's not sure it's really necessary to spell out lemonade stand licensing exemptions in a law, but that it's better to be safe than sorry.

"If everybody's on the same page, then our children will stay happy," she said.