Article Courtesy of The Naples News

By Liam Dillon

Published March 2, 2007

The fate of Paul Smith's ability to sell his handmade dominoes is still up in the air.

Smith, an 85-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor, and his wife Ches met with the Riviera Golf Estates Homeowners Association's Violations Committee on Thursday morning and their behavior was discussed.

The association has said that Smith's domino making, in which he takes 19 hours to make a set of wooden dominoes from scratch, violates association rules against running businesses out of residences. Smith, who sells the sets for $40, said his domino-making is a hobby and his price covers his cost.

Thursday morning's meeting, Smith said, was to give him a hearing in front of the board. The committee told him that they will present a recommendation to association's board on whether he can begin selling his dominoes again, whether he will not be allowed and/or be subject to disciplinary action, such as a fine.

The committee also told him that the media attention his case has generated -- Smith was the subject of a January Naples Daily News and naplesnews.com profile -- is having an adverse affect on the community and its property values.

"The way they talked this morning, they made us feel really sorry for the people involved," Smith said.

The Riviera Homeowners Association has a regular meeting that is closed to the public on the third Tuesday of each month. Smith said he was told that the association might hold an emergency meeting before then on this issue.

A search of Collier County tax records shows that there were at least 21 registered businesses in the community last year.

Kay Randazzo, the president of the association's board of directors, did not immediately return a phone call seeing comment.