Tempe resident and hot dog vendor Rick Blackard has been waiting since January to apply for a vending license to sell his product in downtown Tempe.
But the city has not accepted any applications so far this year and may soon do away with sidewalk vending in Tempe altogether.
The Downtown Vending Committee recommended Wednesday to suspend pushcart vending in downtown Tempe until further review or direction from the City Council.
The committee will present their recommendation to the city's Finance and Economic Development Committee on May 13 when further action will be decided.
Until then, Blackard's hot dog cart will remain parked in his garage.
"No one has even told me what the problem is," Blackard said. "I can't operate anywhere in the city right now."
Even though Tempe is not accepting new applications, it has allowed the renewal of previous licenses.
There is only one licensed sidewalk vendor in the city, but there have been many requests for applications so far this year, said Kay Savard, Tempe's License Services Coordinator.
City officials say the vendors cause unfair competition with established businesses, and the city ordinance regarding sidewalk vendors needs to be re-evaluated.
The existing ordinance allows sidewalk vending on six corners downtown, permits only food and beverages to be sold and says vendors can't sell any competing product within 200 feet of a business already providing that product.
Rod Keeling, executive director of Downtown Tempe Community, said this produces a problem for the entire vending community.
"There needs to be an overhaul in the code," he said. "To limit it to food and beverage is wrong. Whatever happened to the guy who sells something unique? Why wouldn't we want him downtown?"
Mike Jennings, owner of the Campus Corner stores on Mill Avenue and College Avenue, said he doesn't think sidewalk vendors should be allowed to operate downtown.
"It costs a lot of money to do business in a structure like mine, and I don't think it's necessarily fair for the city to allow anybody to do business on city-owned property for as little as they want to charge," he said. "Several restaurants are not doing financially well. Until the market dictates the need for pushcarts, people need to patronize the restaurants downtown."
Vending committee member Jim Cristea, a Tempe engineering supervisor, agreed.
"They (vendors) are unfair competition with people who pay leases and taxes," he said. "It's hard for any pushcart vendor not to be in conflict with them (Campus Corner). They sell everything."
Cristea added that sidewalk vending has never been successful for long in the area anyway.
"Pushcart vending is not making it and it never has," he said.
Reach the reporter at kristina.davis@asu.edu.
