Save Thai Brunch!

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://blog.creativedestruction.com/2009/02/10/save-thai-brunch/>

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Save Thai Brunch!
Every Sunday for nearly two decades, Berkeleys Thai Buddhist temple,
Wat Mongkolratanaram, has dished up one of the most popular brunches
in town. Starting at 10 a.m., hundreds line up outside the suburban
temple, carrying away plates of curry and mango with sticky rice to
eat at picnic tables or on the nearby lawn of the citys tool-lending
library.
via Brunch at Berkeleys Thai Buddhist Temple Angers Neighbors -
WSJ.com.
The busybodies in Berkeley now want to shut down a local instutition,
Thai brunch at the Wat. What sort of person would want to shut this
down, not just a place to get Thai food on Sunday, not just a place
where the Buddhist monks can earn merit, but a place that is a
Berkeley institution, that has been around since the dawn of time,
where people have met, developed friendships, lost friendships,
developed feuds, interviewed potential hires, and more.
What is this that now, after so many years, the neighbors claim that
the place isnt zoned to be a restaurant? I suppose this doesnt apply
to zoning, technically, but it should: in a trademark, you have to use
it or lose it. In terms of property, if you put up a fence on your
property that is inside your property line, let your neighbor use that
land that is technically yours for years, without specifically saying
I am letting you use this but not giving it to you, eventually, they
own that piece of land. Similarly, with zoning. You operate a business
for decades, technically in violation of the zoning laws, and it
becomes an institution, worth more than the zoning laws that were
never enforced for those many years.
And these neighbors who are complaining? Who has been there longer?
The Wat or the neighbors?
Save Thai Brunch!
This entry was posted on February 10, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed
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