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Show City moves to curb street vendors V - ,ll.ll.,.,,,l.,i.ir.T,'rr-T-"' T,'11 -t!l'".'!.r''' ' f ,' v,,-ii M 7i in ii mi " T" "" '"""' ; ,miTT 1 ' ' 'I O ii infirm ii m i.Vuw.i mt nniini.ii 1 s . . rZ ' ,, , , v-v by Christopher Smart The city council is about to put its foot down and outlaw street vendors from Park City. Following a Jan. 10 work session, the council told City Attorney Tom Clyde to draft an ordinance banning pushcarts and the like from the streets of Park City. The ordinance will state, in part, that street vendors with current licenses will be able to do business for two more years. No additional street vending licenses will be issued. The subject has raised its head numerous times since the new council came to office a year ago. After a number of discussions, the council has finally decided to . eliminate the vendors. City Councilman Tom Shellen-berger Shellen-berger told the council that Park City isn't attracting the type of street vendor that would make the town more aesthetically pleasing. "We're not getting the type of vendors we wanted, like flower stands. Instead we get Japanese shaved ice and stuffed potatoes." Prior to the council work session last week, the last permit for street vending was given to Baja Cantina proprietor Steve McComb. McComb recently opened his Great Idaho Baked Potato Company, a pushcart located at the Park City Resort Center. At the work session, councilman council-man Jim Doilney complained about the street vendors in general and McComb's potato pushcart specifically. "The potato guy goes over to the Comer Store to warm up and then sends his customers there to sit down." It is Doilney's contention that street vendors should not be allowed to do business in front of businesses which have substantial substan-tial investments in buildings or pay rent. ' According to Clyde, the current city ordinance requires vendors to move fifty feet every hour. But McComb doesn't believe the existing ordinance or the proposed one banning vendors, applies to him. The potato pushcart push-cart is located adjacent to his business, McComb said, and is on private property. He added that his landlord pays property taxes on the land where the cart is located. Clyde agrees with McComb that problems of definition arise concerning vendors on private property. " If the Corner Store can cook and sell cheeseburgers outside, in front of their business, why can't McComb sell potatoes in front of the Baja Cantina?" Clyde asked rhetorically. Further, he said, other vendors like Dennis Feldman the hot dog man, might be able to make arrangements with existing businesses busi-nesses to sell on private property. The ordinance should be ready for formal council action by month's end. The action will not involve mobile vendors serving construction sites. Hot dog vendor Dennis Feldman awaits a summer noontime rush. "We're not getting the type of vendors we wanted, like flower stands. Instead we get Japanese shaved ice and stuffed potatoes." |