My wife dragged, I mean accompanied me on an afternoon drive to Cedarburg Saturday afternoon.
In addition to the obligatory gift shops, we strolled past the new Silver Creek Brewpub with its beer garden nestled right next to, and I do mean right next to the Cedarburg Creek.
Outdoor tables were filled with patrons enoying the lagers, ales, and 70-degree weather.
The brewpub made me think about a blog I wrote two weeks ago about businessman Tony Pipito who decided he was going to open his Italian villa-themed cocktail lounge/restaurant on Silver Lake in violation of local ordinances, risking daily fines.
The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel has written a follow-up.
Pipito has, indeed, opened Club Porticello and citations with hefty fines are now being issued.
Humorless-sounding City Administrator Diane Gard told the newspaper, "The citations have been issued and they compound daily."
Pipito has invested over $1 million to beautify what was once a blight on the city, but is now the subject of a lawsuit by some residents and guess who? The most heavy-handed and unpopular of all state agencies, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
They claim Club Porticello is too close to the lake, as Amy Rinard writes in the Journal/Sentinel, "just 17 feet from the water."
Just 17 feet?
Some tables at the beer garden at The Silver Creek Brewpub in Cedarburg appeared to be 17 inches from the water.
Pipito is trying to jump through all the hoops (obstacles) and may eventually get the permits he needs, but the City Administrator threatens to push those daily citations.
This makes no sense.
Local and state government should be working to try to make it easier for a conscientious businessman who wants to make a significant contribution to the local economy to open his establishment.
Nope.
Not in business-hating Wisconsin.
We make it pure hell for businesses to start up.
This is a perfect example.
Hang in there, Tony.
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