The Detroit City Council approved elimination of 34 licenses for small businesses, including laundromats. | Oli Woodman/Unsplash
The Detroit City Council approved elimination of 34 licenses for small businesses, including laundromats. | Oli Woodman/Unsplash
Detroit city leaders have opted to discontinue approximately three dozen small business licenses, in an effort to improve the business climate and make it easier for people to open up shop within the city limits.
The decision by the city council was based on recommendations from the Buildings Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department (BSEED) to eliminate licensing requirements for 34 types of small businesses, according to a press release from the city.
"Having fewer requirements for certain small businesses owners to operate in the City of Detroit will eliminate potential barriers of entry," David Bell, BSEED director, said in the release. "Our goal is to make it easier to do business in the City of Detroit while ensuring compliance and health and safety guidelines are still followed."
Licenses that were discontinued included those for archery galleries/schools, auctioneers, baseball batting nets, beverage retail, bowling alleys, coin-operated game distributors, dance studios, dry cleaning, furniture movers, garbage collectors, golf ranges, house rental agencies, instructional services, junk collectors, landscape gardeners, self-service laundromats, motorbuses, motorcycle rental establishments, pet shops, sightseeing buses, snow removal, storage houses, bicycle tracks, trailer rental lots, trampolines, and vending machines, according to the release.
Those businesses will save money and time now that these licenses are not required.
The release stated that BSEED created a virtual concierge to streamline the licensing process.
BSEED also established a robust improvement plan for more proactive communication with business owners, according to the release.
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