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Local theater owner asks council for exception to itinerant-vendor fee; council punts change to upcoming fee schedule
Summary
A Sydney concession-trailer operator asked the City Council to exempt concession trailers used largely for free community events from the city's itinerant-vendor fee. Council members said the ordinance would need to be amended and directed the issue be considered during the city's upcoming fee-schedule process.
John, a local theater owner and operator of a concession trailer, asked the Sydney City Council on April 22 to exempt his concession trailer from the city's itinerant-vendor fee, arguing the trailer is not a food truck and that the $350 annual fee is a barrier to community service.
John said his trailer does not cook on site and that most events where the trailer appears involve free services: "We're a concession trailer. We don't cook anything. Our food license that we carry isn't the same as what they carry." He told the council many of his community appearances are charitable and that the fee would prevent participation at major local events.
The council and staff replied that the current language appears in the city's ordinance governing itinerant vendors and that changing who pays or how much would require an ordinance amendment tied to the city fee schedule. A council member advised that the fee schedule and related ordinance language are reviewed soon and that the issue should be taken up there: the fee schedule process is the appropriate venue to consider exemptions or discounts.
City staff said the itinerant-vendor rule was adopted after complaints from brick-and-mortar food businesses during the COVID period and aims to equalize fees between permanent and temporary vendors. Council discussion also noted the practical differences between food trucks and concession trailers that do not prepare food on site.
Rather than issuing an immediate exemption, the council suggested the theater operator pursue fee relief through the upcoming fee-schedule review and directed staff to include the item in those discussions. The theater operator said a private donor covered this year's fee but not future years.
No ordinance amendment or fee waiver was enacted at the April 22 meeting; the council indicated the fee-schedule review, coming in the next month or two, is the proper time to consider changes.
