Operating for 12 years, Maysville business can't get a license

The issue lies in a law stating that families can have yard sales only twice per month without a business license, and Lyles was conducting business every weekend.

Another issue is the continuous use law stating that a business loses its privileges if it is not active for six months.

Savage said she did not keep records of most things because Lyles was honest and she didn’t see a need for him to sign a lease. Savage said she could look at her check registry to see if she could find exact dates.

Neither of them could recall the exact date Lyles started operating his shop, but attendees at the meeting testified that they had bought things from him several years ago. Attendees also stated how well kept the area was. The laws that were violated were changed in 2000, potentially after Savage started renting the building to Lyles.

Gladys Cochran stated a concern over the two paying their taxes, but the city not allowing them to use the building as they pleased.

City attorney Jane Range said: “There would be no way under current zoning to legally grant the use of the property unless the applicant can demonstrate that the property was in continuous use in business which meets the definitions of a flea market… It is our opinion that the request for a license be denied if the information that the clerk found on the business records is accurate.”