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Maine hotline helps business owners cut through red tape

Sue and Mike Jillson were frustrated.

They wanted to open an ice cream shop in Manchester, a sister shop to their popular Fielder’s Choice ice cream stand in Sabattus. They bought the land, got the permits, started construction. But suddenly, in August, someone from the Department of Transportation told them to stop.

They may have gotten approval from the town, he said, but not from the Maine DOT. There was talk of fines, traffic studies, a turning lane, possibly a red light — at a cost the couple couldn’t afford.

"I was hysterical," Sue Jillson said. "I was thinking, ‘This is it. What have we done?’"

But 48 hours later, the crisis was over. The Jillsons were allowed to count customers at their Sabattus shop and use that figure, in lieu of a formal traffic study, to gauge how many cars the new Manchester shop might see.

They got that help from the state’s red tape hotline.

"I can’t even describe to you the relief," Sue said.

By Lindsay Tice, Sun Journal

Full Story: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/11/11/business/maine-hot-line-helps-business-owners-cut-through-red-tape/

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