To the editor:
I wrote a May 2nd article in Lake Report about City Council reinstating rental licenses despite a record of non-compliance.
I came to this wonderful country from Germany in March 1952.
I was 17 and a half years old at the time. My brother, who is 19 years old, and I bought a lot of things and built a 1.5-story garage. We had a building permit, which included a notice that said it was “not intended for human occupancy.”
By October of the same year, we proudly moved into the garage. It was clearly a violation of the regulations.
Shortly thereafter, we obtained a building permit to build a house and everything was legal.
In 1963, I founded Lincoln Feed & Farm Supply Co. on Niagara Stone Road (now Miner Brothers/MB Country Living).
The site plan clearly states that “external storage is prohibited.” we couldn’t follow it. Today it is allowed.
This leads to the Marlene Galliot issue outlined in your story. Her occupation is a wedding officiant.
This seems to have led to requests to hold weddings on her premises. It’s a normal part of entrepreneurship.
I commend the City Council for its reasonable response. However, a permanent solution must be found to legally continue Galio’s operations.
county. Erwin Wiens was right when he said, “It takes a big hammer to put someone out of business.”
And I say, “You can take away everything from an entrepreneur except freedom.”
Our community needs entrepreneurs.
Hans Wiens
NOTL
