Western Wisconsin teen relaunches bait shop after zoning laws shut it down
A Spooner, Wisconsin teenager had a dream of operating his own bait shop this summer. But two weeks after he opened, Max McKinney's business was shut down due to zoning laws.
"We load tubes and kayaks and all the good stuff. I also, on the side, babysit and ump baseball," said McKinney.
Not many 15-year-olds have four summer jobs. But McKinney is an exception.
Last fall he began growing worms so he could open the Spooner Lake Bait Shop, which he built from scratch with his cousin and his grandpa, Tom Foss.
"Max really had the plan for it and what he wanted it to look like," said Foss.
"We have worms, snacks, drinks, and our biggest seller is our t-shirts, actually," said McKinney.
Fishing opener weekend was a success and so was the weekend after. But then McKinney got an unexpected letter.
"We got a letter in the mail, two weekends in, that said we had to shut down," said McKinney. "I was very surprised. I didn't see it coming."
The Washburn County letter said his business was operating in an agricultural zone and he needed to be in a residential zone.
"When you initially get a letter you are upset about it because why are they doing this to a 15-year-old kid," said Foss.
For two months, McKinney had to close his doors. But he took the high road, choosing to tell his side of the story and let the process play out. That's when his family learned about the Lemonade Stand Law, which allows minors to sell up to $2,000 in merchandise. It's a state law that trumped local zoning and it enabled Max to reopen this week.
"Probably the biggest lesson I learned was to hold your tongue and not lash back at the county because I kind of knew we would get it back eventually," said McKinney.
The deal now is that once McKinney makes $2,000 out of his bait shop, he has to shut down for the rest of the summer. But the hope is, in the future, there won't be a limit on what he can do here.
So maybe customers will drop in, before they drop a line in the lake.
"Now I'm just excited to see where it goes for him," said Foss.
"We'll kind of see where it takes us. Maybe turn it into an actual business sometime," said McKinney.
The Spooner Lake Bait Shop is open on the weekends near the Spooner Lake landing.
McKinney said he wanted to thank everyone in the community and online that supported him while he was shut down.