Local street vendor airs concerns about Council ordinances

Mayor Steven Patterson sitting besides City Auditor Kathy Hecht. Photo by Emily Zeiler.

James Wanke, owner of Silver Serpent LLC and Hot Shots Food Truck, spoke out at City Council on Monday evening about an ordinance that would increase regulations on vendors, peddlers and solicitors and increase the penalties. 

Wanke described how the proposed ordinance would hurt his business specifically, saying it's “not any politician’s job to protect other businesses from competition and there is no reason to keep food trucks from vending near North Court Street at night when parking is free.”

“Why cut deals for the rich and powerful but not local business. You can do better, but instead, you are criminalizing me and my employees because we dare to do what was necessary to survive,” Wanke said about the increased penalties the ordinance would bring for his business. 

The ordinance would amend Athens City Code and allow the city to institute civil proceedings for violators not following the code. If the code is violated, the person may face jail time depending on how many violations occurred. 

“Well the issue to me is following the law which seems to be an issue with him is that he is not,” Councilmember Jeffrey Risner said. 

Wanke currently does not possess a vending license for Hot Shots Food Truck, according to a previous report from the Post.

Mayor Steve Patterson said vending is laid out clearly in the Athens City Code and that Wanke can talk to Council if there is a suggestion for improvement of the code. 

Council also reviewed an ordinance that would amend city code to increase the cost of parking stickers for motorcycles.

The current price for a motorcycle parking sticker for a singular motorcycle is $20. If the ordinance passes, the price for the sticker will be increased to $40. 

Athens resident Sam Girton expressed concern about the potential increase in these prices as a result of this ordinance. 

“If you elevate the price of the parking pass for the motorcycle, you are discouraging people from riding motorcycles, and I think with the parking problem Athens has, during peak times it might be wise to encourage people to be riding motorcycles instead of driving cars,” Girton said.

Girton also said that motorcycle riders will just not buy a pass if the cost increases.

“If you raise the price so much, the people who ride motorcycles will just make the decision to put quarters in a meter for the three months of the year they ride a motorcycle instead of buying the pass for the entire year,” he said.

Girton also claimed that motorcycles were more fuel efficient than the standard car are and would be better to have more motorcycles in Athens to help the environment. 

City Council President Chris Knisely said in explanation to Girton’s concerns that the increases are a result of the decision by the Athens City Code Director and other departments because of administrative costs.