Look, not all laws and government stuff is ‘bad’, but the amount of bad stuff out there is almost always due to ‘too much’.
For example, in what circumstance would a government care about patio plants?
MANKATO, MINN. — Marty Lewis, owner of Blue Bricks, 424 S Front St. in the City Center of Mankato was shocked to find that he had to close down the patio at Blue Bricks on Thursday, May 28th due to not having enough live plants.
“My managers told me that City of Mankato Associate Civil Engineer Landon Bode came into Blue Bricks on Thursday during lunch hour and told the servers that we did not have enough flowers on our patio and we were out of compliance with the City,” said Lewis “After the lunch crowd cleared, my managers went up to Drummers and picked up some shrubs, planters and hanging baskets and put them on the patio.”
Wanting to make sure Blue Bricks was in compliance, Lewis then called City of Mankato Associate Civil Engineer Landon Bode, who did not answer his phone and left a message.
“Landon Bode did not return my calls and I assumed that everything would be alright,” said a frustrated Lewis “Then at around 5:30 p.m. that day, two Mankato Police Officers came into the restaurant and told me that the patio was closed and we would have to clear the patio because we were out of compliance.”
Many things wrong with this picture, but two stand out: One – Who thinks it is a governing bodies decision to dictate plant cover in a bar patio and Two – The enforcement of the rule is simply ludicrous.
I don’t have a problem with the City having beautification ordinances, but the ability for a city engineer to have two uniformed police go and shut down a patio is a but over the top. I would think a letter would suffice, and they should have been given time to comply.
The Mankato City Manager responds to incident:
http://mankatotimes.com/2015/06/21/mankato-city-manager-responds-to-patio-closing/
I don’t have a problem with the City having beautification ordinances
Well – it isn’t a question of ‘role of government’. Clearly this is a city matter and is properly local.
But still, mandating plants?
but the ability for a city engineer to have two uniformed police go and shut down a patio is a but over the top.
Yes, the enforcement stinks.
Yes, this is clearly not the way to enforce such measures. It sounds from the response that Mankato is trying to better train staff on how to handle such cases. My Grandma used to have an apartment right off Front street, above a formal wear place, I think (Fischer’s maybe was the name?) She had to move way back in the late 70s when they turned that area into a mall. Also knew the former owner of the Hurdy Gurdy Saloon, though I suspect that’s not there any more.