I run a small business with less than 20 part time employees. I have been open for two years. I got a code violation from someone and was promptly shut down by my County until I could make necessary changes to my building.

The problem is… They are piling on all these things and then not approving permits for necessary work.

I have been closed for 3 months now have lost half of my clientele and cannot survive much longer.

I need advice on how to fight the county. I should have been grandfathered in. I should have been fined not shut down. I have not sought legal council because I was told it was ultimately a waste of money because all we could hope to recoup was lost wages and it would cost 100k and take upwards of two years. So we didn’t pursue any legal action.

However, our commercial broker led us here, the seller of the building (we own not rent) sold under false pretenses and our move in inspectors did not find any of these code violations.

We did need to get our fire safety system updated which we have since competed. But all the other things they are saying is ADA compliance things we should have grandfathered in protection from.

Has anyone experience a similar circumstance? What are my rights? I feel so backed against the wall. How do you fight the government? I just want to operate my business. I’m a tax paying, law abiding citizen. These code violations are not something I wouldn’t fix either, I just have to be generating income to fix this.

I am running a children’s athletic facility for context…. I will lose my business if I cannot be open as my 500 families will go elsewhere.

I feel so bullied and helpless against the county right now. It’s been 3 months I cannot survive much more of this…