Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Metro columnist Dan Casey: Officials may be ready for frank discussion
Dan Casey is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
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Could a diminutive and good-natured grandmother from Bedford County be the focal point for future changes to Roanoke's mostly nonexistent street vending scene?
It's too soon to tell, for sure. But it's looking more and more likely that Mendy Songer, 45, could become a poster child for small-scale free enterprise in the city.
A column last week about Songer's travails selling hot dogs in downtown Roanoke certainly struck a nerve.
Thursday, people flocked to her hot dog stand at the corner of Third Street and Norfolk Avenue, across from the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Some drove from Salem and Vinton to show their support. Songer sold her entire stock of 100 franks before 2 p.m.
Thursday afternoon, Councilman David Trinkle raised the issue during a council meeting. Trinkle, a physician and restaurateur, asked City Manager Darlene Burcham what had happened to street vending regulations city officials began talking about years ago.
Burcham answered that those discussions pretty much halted when city officials learned the business group Downtown Roanoke Inc., which manages the market area for the city, opposed the idea. But she promised to list the subject on an upcoming council agenda.
Meanwhile, I also heard from would-be food sellers who have invested in vending equipment. They told pretty much the same story: The city grants them business licenses and zoning permits -- but neglects to inform them they can't do business on city streets and sidewalks.
That's something they found out only when they were told to move along, the same thing that happened to Songer.
One of them was Joe Roragen, owner of AJ's restaurant on Brandon Avenue. In July he tried to sell hot dogs from a sidewalk cart in the market area but was quickly ordered away by a DRI employee. Roragen says he left without a fuss.
City officials later acknowledged that "Roanoke isn't set up, or isn't ready, for hot dog vendors on the streets," Roragen said. He added that he didn't press the issue for fear of bad publicity for his restaurant, which sells hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages.
Doug Waters, the interim president of Downtown Roanoke Inc., said many vendors don't understand their city peddling permit is a license to peddle only on private property.
"Part of our job is to enforce the rules of the market," Waters said. "Hot dog vending is one of those things that have not been contemplated by the rules, and so sometimes we're the heavy that has to enforce that."
DRI members "are not receptive" to allowing street vendors downtown, Waters added.
Another would-be vendor is Larry Howell, a beloved longtime Roanoke-area Boy Scout leader. He honed his outdoor-cooking skills during 20 years of volunteering in Scouting.
The former salesman recently invested thousands of dollars in his gleaming, stainless steel trailer/cart.
Howell wants to sell food to construction workers building the Carilion Clinic complex along Reserve Avenue. But he hasn't been able to get permission from the city to set up in the gravel lot next to the Armory or on a privately owned lot on that street.
"I really and truly do love this city," Howell told me Monday. "I think in my heart of hearts, I can't imagine the city wanting to put a crunch on the spirit of entrepreneurship and small business."
Howell, 61, intends to address the council on the subject Monday.
Already he has Trinkle on his side.
"I'm a huge fan of street vendors," said Trinkle, owner of restaurants Fork In The Alley and Fork In The City. He's also considering adding a pizza truck to his restaurant business. "I think it adds a vibe, and improves the quality of life in many ways."
The trick for the council, Trinkle said, is in devising rules that accommodate vendors without hurting restaurants that have much higher overhead.
The city council has been unable to untie that knot before. Will they manage it this time?
Stay tuned.
