Neighbor Sours on Boy's 'Illegal' Lemonade Stand

A Dunedin boy’s lemonade stand is at the center of an ongoing controversy with a neighbor who says the operation is hurting his property value and disrupting his “quiet home and neighborhood.”

Entrepreneurial T.J. Guerrero, 12, opened the lemonade stand in his Dunedin neighborhood about two years ago. After careful market testing, he determined the best location was on the corner of Patricia Avenue and San Salvador Drive, between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m., the Tampa Bay Times reported. The boy even secured permission from a neighbor to set up shop outside his home and other neighbors support the boy’s quest to earn his own spending money by offering their driveways up for parking if the need arises.

While most in the quiet neighborhood support Guerrero, one neighbor does not. In fact, Doug Wilkey says the boy is operating an illegal business that is harming his property values.

He’s even asked Dunedin – on at least four occasions – to shut down the stand that sells lemonade for $1 and cookies for 50 cents.

“If this were a once a year event by a couple kids to earn a little money for a holiday or something, I would not have a problem with it,” Wilkey wrote in one of his complaints, according to the New York Daily News. “I am very worried about the value of my home, which is why I built in a residential area, not a business area.”

While Wilkey has lodged complaints, it seems like the city of Dunedin has no intention of getting between the young man and his entrepreneurial dreams.

Check out the Times full story on T.J.’s business here.

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