Letters from the City of Pismo Beach compliance division have been sent to local business owners, saying they do not have a proper business license and could face up to six months in jail.
The division sending the letters is run by HdL Companies an organization hired by the city to help fix a decades long problem where business licenses were not enforced.
“The dollar amount of a business license is not in any way onerous," said local business owner Mark Burnes. "It's the fear they put in my elderly clients that didn't understand, and the far reaching nature and the offensive nature of which this company went after us. That is at issue.”
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Burnes and other business owners voiced their concerns with how the notices were issued.
“We own that the letters that our consultant used were a little sterile," said Pismo Beach City Manager Jorge Garcia. "When we don't meet the standards and expectations, I think it's important that we have a conversation, that we have a dialog and that we figure out again, what is right for Pismo Beach.”
Burnes said in the decades he has worked as a business owner in Pismo Beach, he has never heard of the ordinance. He said without a courtesy notice, they did not know they were violating any laws.
“They sucker punched us," Burnes said. "We weren't even expecting it. Which is the city is acknowledged. Hey, we should have sent out a courtesy notice. Yeah. You think?”
The ordinance will be changed to be easier to understand. As for the 80 businesses that HdL estimates do not have business licenses, they will have to retroactively pay a fee for the last three years as part of California law.
“Even though we could charge, interest and penalties for not paying in the past, we're not doing that," Garcia said. "We are saying we don't have to have interest and penalties on something you didn't know that you were required to pay.”
Garcia said this fee helps make things even between businesses who have not had to pay for the fees.
"We want to strike a balance again," Garcia said. "No one was doing anything maliciously if they didn't know because the city didn't provide them notification in the past. Then it's only fair that we don't charge a penalty for something that they weren't aware of."
Burnes says now, there are mixed emotions from the business owners on the issue.
“There's still some stuff we have to iron out but for the most part, I think we're headed in the right direction,” Burnes said.
