Permits for La Pulga
News8Austin: City orders flea market to shut down
Some residents are worried the city could shut down a beloved weekend flea market.
The city ordered "La Pulga" on Pleasant Valley in Southeast Austin to shut down two weeks ago, saying it lacked the proper operating permits.
The altruistic caring hand of the intrusive regulatory state strikes again.
The market has become a tradition for shoppers because it's like street markets in Mexico and Latin America. It's also a main source of income for vendors.And that's why the owner, Mahmood Wadiwalla, said he's fighting to keep the place open.
"These families look forward for the Sunday and Saturday to come so they can all come out here and enjoy their cultural stuff here," Wadiwalla said.
Copyright ©2006TWEAN News Channel of Austin, L.P. d.b.a. News 8 Austin
The government is saying, in effect, that it owns your productive property and in order for you to substantially profit from it, you must have a permit to make a living. Skip the permits or fail to maintain them in the prescribed manner and they throw threats of fines and forced closure at you and let there be no misunderstanding: they will eventually authorize police violence against you if you refuse and exercise your right to your property.
This is one of the primary reasons I am not likely to start a serious business of my own. Sure, I've conducted economic transactions where I was the owner of something that someone else bought or I was the performer of some service that someone else purchased and in every case the transaction was conducted voluntarily. But to actually go to into business with the intention of being my own boss and generating my own income...that's a level of state attention I don't want.
UPDATED 1/31/2006 12:49pm
News8Austin: "On Monday, the city rejected the owner’s new operating plans because they lacked adequate parking."