Plainfield Board Passes Cupcake Ordinance

Photo: The Plainfield Village Board.

Home bakers will get to have their cake and eat it, too, after the Plainfield Village Board unanimously passed the “cupcake ordinance” at its Monday night meeting.

The ordinance allows small, home-kitchen businesses to sell baked goods directly to the public as long as they conform to the state statute. Per the ordinance, home baking operations are limited to a maximum of $1,000 profit per month. A notice is also required stating that the food was prepared in a home kitchen. The village reserves the right to inspect the home kitchen if there are any complaints or disease outbreaks.

Nicole Voruz Perez, Plainfield home baker and owner of All Pied Up No Place To Go, was happy with the board’s decision.

In April of 2015, Voruz Perez was attempting to make her home baking operation official. She got an insurance policy, sent off information to the state and the last step for her was to go through the village for a business license.

“They said they wouldn’t grant it because it’s a home-based business for baking,” she said. “And they don’t grant those type of permits.”

The board then explored the cupcake law. The cupcake law was passed in June 2014 after 12 year old Chloe Stirling’s cupcake business was shut down.

Stirling used her small, home-based baking business, Hey Cupcake!, to provide treats for friends, relatives and fundraisers, including for the family of fallen Troy service member Senior Airman Bradley Smith. She achieved fame after her home cupcake-sale operation was shut down, making news headlines around the state, according to a release from the Illinois Government News Network. Chloe and her mother, Heather, then traveled to Springfield to lobby for a proposal that would pave the way for home kitchen businesses making less than $1,000 per month. The bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives but was initially defeated in the Senate after several amendments were added. Former Governor Pat Quinn convinced Senators to put the bill “back into the oven,” remove the amendments and reconsider it, after which it passed unanimously.

For Voruz Perez, the newly-passed ordinance means she can operate like an actual business now.

“We can operate like any other business could,” she said.

All Pied Up specializes in wine-infused pies, but traditional ones are also available. Visit the business’s Facebook page to get a look at the pies.