Hot dog carts and business license fees; city leaders weigh in

Many have weighed in with their opinions about the new rules regulating food carts in downtown Marion. In Thursday's edition of The McDowell News, hot dog stand operator Lisa Miller voiced her opinion.

Comments made by local merchants Mike Ornburg and, to a lesser extent, Bruce Brown have been featured in several prior stories. But what about the members of the City Council and Planning Board, who drafted and passed the new ordinance and the revisions made weeks later?

Amid the controversy over mobile food vendors in downtown Marion, most members of the City Council say they are determined to revisit the issue until it is resolved.

In August, the council acted on a recommendation of the Planning Board to allow operators of mobile food carts in the downtown area. An ordinance was drafted governing the particulars of operation and stipulating that vendors should pay a $100 "privilege fee" for the license to operate their businesses for one year.

This did not sit well with some. Two Main Street business owners objected to the council that the license fee for mobile vendors was entirely too low, given the expense brick-and-mortar businesses face of owning or renting storefront space.

The council agreed with the objections, raising the fee for mobile food vendors from $100 per year to $1,200 per year.

On Thursday, however, it emerged that the privilege license fees paid by the restaurants and cafes on Main Street were considerably lower than the new cart fee – ranging from $25 to $137.50.

Only one application has been approved, that of Lisa Miller, owner and operator of a hot dog stand. She told The McDowell News Wednesday that she intends to come to Main Street as soon as possible, but was uncertain if the city intended to honor its agreement at the $100 level.

Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Steve Little told The McDowell News on Thursday that the license was hers at the rate agreed upon -- $100.

"The perspective gained by reading (Miller's comments) was really helpful," he said. "I gained the perspective that there is a huge gap between established businesses and new businesses.

"It makes me want to start over again, frankly," Little added.

He lamented that, although the matter was discussed in council a number of times and was reported in The McDowell News several times, the public remained silent until the council had acted.

"We've had very sharp barbs thrown in our direction," he said. "We have tried to listen and be responsive to people's ideas and needs."

Mayor Everette Clark agreed, adding that, as mayor, he did not vote on the issue. The decision to raise the fee from $100 to $1,200 was taken, he said, in response to public comment, but that he and the council had heard a great deal more since then.

Asked if the vacancies on Main Street might indicate the time was right to do away with the privilege license fees altogether, both Clark and Little agreed it was worth considering.

"Privilege license fees have been a controversial issue as long as I have been in government – some 30-plus years," said Clark. "They don't generate much revenue, it's negligible really."

He said licensing was a good idea, in that it allowed the community to regulate what sort of business could operate in the city, and allowed the government to keep an accurate idea of who was operating where, but that it might not need to carry any fee with it.

"I'm open to new and innovative ways of doing things," he said. "It's something that should be discussed."
Little agreed.

"That's definitely something we want to think about," he stated. "The fees are a drop in the bucket." He said comparing one business's rent to another's license fees was comparing "apples to watermelons."

Councilman Mike Edwards said he felt all sides had a valid point to make. He said he would not want to see an established business lose years of hard work and investment.

Two business owners had convinced him, he explained, that their profit margins were so slim they could go under if they lost so much as seven or eight percent of their business.

"We need to make it fair," he said. "Maybe that's a protectionist view," but then again "maybe it's much ado about nothing." After all, he elaborated, only one person, Miller, had applied for the license. One hot dog stand, he said, could not pose much threat. He is not convinced there are many entrepreneurs wanting to come downtown.

"I don't have any problem with eliminating the business fee altogether," he said, "if it made everyone feel they were being treated fairly. I want everybody to feel they have an equal opportunity to make a dollar."

Councilman Billy Martin was less ambiguous.

"I don't believe (the current fee structure) is fair," he said. "I was for the least cost to operate a hot dog stand all along.

"We did not get all the information we needed before we made a decision like that," he stated.

Does he support eliminating all the privilege fees in order to level the playing field?

"That sounds like a plan to me," said Martin. "The fees don't bring in enough revenue to worry about and cause all kinds of headaches."

Councilman Cecil Owenby was the original lone holdout against the fee increase.

"I thought it was entirely too much," he said. "There's a big difference between a privilege license and rent.

"What upsets me is that we took action on the unanimous recommendation of the Planning Board, and voted for the $100 fee. Then just two weeks later they were asking us to change it when we hadn't even tried it yet."

As for eliminating privilege fees, he said he tended to feel the fees were fair and just, with the $1,200 cart fee being the lone exception. Keep the system, he said, but the council must act to correct its action.

"We made a mistake," he said.

Attempts to reach Councilman Lloyd Cuthbertson for comment were unsuccessful at deadline time Thursday.