Politics & Government
Barringtons 'Relieved' by Bel Air Fortune-Telling Decision
Intuitive Counseling's owner said she did not like being classified as a "witchcraft" business.
owner Alice Barrington said is a weight lifted off her shoulders.
Questioned at public about her business practices in a town that had prohibited predicting the future, the Baltimore County resident can breathe easy.
"[I'm] relieved. This has been an ongoing event since October," Barrington (an alias she uses for business) said. "[The ruling] was supposed to be cut-and-dry but it got delayed."
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The commissioners voted 4–1 in favor of two ordinances that loosened restrictions on fortune-telling. The first repealed Chapter 23 of the Code of the Town of Bel Air that banned soothsaying and the second designated zoning districts B3 and B3A—"central business" and "central business gateway" districts, respectively—as permissible locations for fortune-telling.
Intuitive Counseling is at 104 S. Main St.—District B2A, also a "central business gateway"—but was "grandfathered" at its existing location as part of the ruling so Barrington does not have to relocate.
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Barrington, who was joined by her daughter, Angela Barrington, at Monday's meeting, said she does not appreciate hearing residents use stereotypes about her business.
"People have been judgmental and putting us under witchcraft or cult or voodoo or anything, and I’m not that at all," Alice Barrington said.
French Poole, the most vocal Bel Air resident in opposition of repealing the restriction, told the commissioners about a "hero" of his who lost large sums of money to fortune-tellers. Barrington said she sympathizes with Poole and others who have been duped, but that her business is legitimate.
"I am very sorry for other people’s experiences but that has nothing to do with me," she said.
Added Angela Barrington: "We're an established business."
Alice Barrington said she will not make any changes to the way she runs her business, which also has a Nottingham location.
"Intuitive counseling is a fancy word for psychic counseling," she said. "We’ve been doing tarot card readings, intuitive counseling. It’s just, they put me under the category of fortune-telling."
