Helium
balloon blimps sail amid tough officials
By Gayle Lynn
Staff Writer
Hollywood - Twenty-year-old Eric Nadel May be young but his
business sense goes far beyond his years.
At 17, while he was still a student at Hollywood Hills High
School, Nedel started his own company. Tendel, Inc. manufacturing
nylon tricot jogging shorts. In just eight weeks, he sold
over 10,000 pairs of shorts, he said. Nadel graduated from
high school and put his fledgling company on hold while he
attended the University of Florida to study business. Now,
two years later, Nadel has reinstated his company's status.
This time be's producing helium balloons for advertising.
His problem arose Monday morning when he went to the City of Hollywood to obtain a permit to sell and fly his balloons.
Bob Davis of the city's zoning board flatly told him a permit
would not be issued, Nadel said. "He three me out of his office.
He said 'I'm going to reject it so you'll have to appeal it."'
Nadel said Davis rejected his idea on the basis of a city
ordinance that required billboards to be less than 64 feet
in diameter. "These are less than that," Nadel protested as
he waved a color photo brochure of his product. An air blimp
measures 8'6" by 25', well within the maximum size.
Nadel's predicament is compounded because he said he has already
sold 20 of the helium balloons pending permission from the
city. The loss of those sales, he said, could cost him a tidy
profit. He was hesitant to provide an exact figure but he
said it was well over the five figure range.
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