Town should be able to revoke licenses

Being able to revoke a business’s license makes sense according to the laws of nature: for every action, there is an opposite reaction.

Although it’s highly doubtful that Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion is nestled deep within the Berlin Town Code, it remains applicable to the mayor and Town Council’s discussion of more power over business licenses.

Common sense dictates that any privilege granted can also be taken away, and that is what town officials are contemplating: whether the town’s authority to issue business licenses should carry with it the power to do the opposite if a business causes problems.

Assuming that it does, the revocation of a license would be more complicated than awarding one, since obtaining a permit to operate is relatively easy — fill out a form, promise to abide by the town’s rules and regulations and pay a fee.

An attempt by the town to revoke that license, however, would require some sort of evidence to justify its action should that business challenge the town’s decision in court.

The mayor and council don’t want is to be accused by a business of discrimination, of acting according to personal interests or of wielding their authority arbitrarily because they don’t like the way someone does business.

That leaves the town only one course of action if it wants to hold sway over business licenses: establish a hearing process that includes findings of fact to back up its decision.

Sure, the mayor and council could simply yank the license of an operation that is making life miserable for its neighbors and wait to see what happens. But the more prudent approach would be for the town to establish a process to ensure that its position is legally defensible should it come to that.

So, should the mayor and council have the authority to take back what it has freely given? It should. Never mind the laws of physics, common sense should apply here — if something is issued in good faith, then the issuer should retain the right to take it away if that good faith is not honored and reciprocated.