CRESTVIEW — Code enforcement officer Senida Oglesby wants the City Council to implement an ordinance governing itinerant, or mobile, vendors.
"There are a vast variety of vendors who come into the city of Crestview, from mobile food vendors to auto dealers to fruit and vegetables, just a wide variety," Oglesby said. "This ordinance would help the Growth Management Department and code enforcement to regulate those types of vendors."
The ordinance would restrict mobile vendors to setting up on commercial property, and would address parking, landscaping, signage, health and sanitation concerns, Oglesby said.
"It would assist in assuring the aesthetics are kept for the use of the property," she said.
The ordinance would also mandate how the vendor parks his or her truck or trailer on the host property.
Non-profit organizations soliciting door to door, vendors setting up in an approved festival or celebration, and yard sales would be exempt from the ordinance, among other exemptions.
“I see a need for this,” Council President Shannon Hayes said during Monday's city council meeting.
'WE NEED THE MONEY'
Other area cities have successful itinerant vendor permitting processes, and Crestview could benefit from them, assistant Public Works director Carlos Jones said.
"That's what every other city around here does," Jones said. "We need the money."
While she did not have specific permit fees on hand, Oglesby said she would expect them to be comparable to those assessed by other cities of Crestview's size.
Some council members did raise concerns about the recommendation.
"I don't want us to be gouging anybody with exorbitant fees where people don't come," Hayes said.
"We don't want to be seen as trying to drive business out of town," Councilman JB Whitten said.
LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD
Several business owners spoke during the presentation. Auto dealership owners Bob Lee and Allen Turner — who own Crestview's Chrysler and Chevrolet dealerships, respectively — said the ordinance is necessary.
"We just want to see the playing field leveled," Lee said. "What we're concerned about … is we don't believe it's fair for someone to come to town and pitch a tent. There's a lot of things we're required to do to operate in town that an itinerant vendor doesn't have to do."
Main Street Crestview Association member and business owner April Meier, of Pawsitively Scrumptious, cautioned against crafting an ordinance that would affect vendors setting up for downtown events such as the Triple B and Fall Festival.
“They're paying $75 already” for booth space, Meier said of vendors. “If there's going to be another fee on there, I want you to be cognizant of that.”
Festivals would be exempt from the ordinance, Oglesby said.
Resident Wendell Beatty expressed concern about the council implementing more hurdles to running a mom-and-pop business.
"I ask you to think about the little guy when trying to solve the big guys' problems," Beatty said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview ordinance recommended for mobile vendors