Sidewalk vendors seek extension

The city’s sidewalk vendor program implemented in June has a sunset of Dec. 31, so that city officials and vendors could see how the program worked and what changes could be made.

Now the city knows what changes are called for, including an extension on business hours and a limit on how many vendors from one business can operate in a certain area.

The proposed changes:

• extending the expiration date of the ordinance to Dec. 31, 2006.

• changing hours of operation from 6–1 a.m. to 7-2:30 a.m.

• requiring carts of the same company or affiliated companies to be 300 feet apart to promote more diverse foods and prevent one company from blanketing an area.

Rusty Worley, executive director of downtown’s Urban Districts Alliance, said the program is still a work in progress, though that process is going well.

“Overall, it’s been generally a positive addition to downtown,” he said.

Since allowing the street vendors, two companies, New York Style Dogs and City Dogs, have opened up shop selling hot dogs, chips, soda and cookies to downtown’s office and nightclub users.

James Hoffman, co-owner of vendor NY Style Dogs, said the reaction to the services provided by companies like his and fellow vendor City Dogs has been good so far.

“Everybody around us loves it – the owners of the bars and restaurants downtown have been helpful and supportive,” Hoffman said. “It’s just an easy way to grab a quick bite to eat.”

Hoffman declined to disclose revenue figures, but talked about possible expansion.

“We have three carts currently, and we’ve talked about ordering more in the future – we talked about ordering three to five more,” he said. “We just wanted to wait to see what the ordinance was going to do.”

City officials said the revised ordinance would expire at the end of 2006 so that any minor adjustments can be made at that point.

“We didn’t want to send a signal to anybody that we were locked and loaded and there weren’t going to be any more changes,” said City Manager Tom Finnie. “I think the idea of a sunset hopefully encourages the vendors to realize that if there are things that … need to be changed, we’re still open to that.”

Hoffman said he has no problem with the proposed changes, saying that the new times would work better and that the distance requirements are not an issue, because he and City Dogs owner Jeff Bear have a friendly relationship.

Council will vote on the proposal at its Dec. 12 meeting.

On Broadway

The mood was decidedly less cheery when discussing a proposal to close the at-grade rail crossing on Broadway Avenue. Several area residents voiced their opposition to the proposal, saying it would hinder travel between the neighborhoods on both sides of the railroad, which runs parallel to Commercial Street.

Finnie defended the proposal citing a Department of Public Works study that shows about 20 pedestrians and 24 bicyclists use the crossing daily. The city also pointed to figures from Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroad, which show that traffic at the crossing is blocked more than half the time.

Burlington Northern would pay the city $65,000 if the crossing is closed, which Public Works would determine how to spend.

A public meeting will be held Dec. 6 at the Woodland Heights Presbyterian Church, 722 W. Atlantic; as a result, Council chose to continue the proposal’s public hearing at its Dec. 12 meeting.