BY MICHAEL BURKE
mburke@journaltimes.com | Posted: Friday, June 5, 2009 12:00 am
RACINE - Since he opened Top Dog Hot Dogs a week ago, Caleb Robinson's mobile business has gotten a lot of customers - and a little unwanted attention from the city.
Robinson, 24, has been told he can't sell on Monument Square. He said he's also been told he can't sell from the sidewalk. His options were difficult to determine Friday.
City ordinance apparently forbids peddlers - and Robinson operates under a peddler's license - from selling in a city park without that department's permission. Monument Square is a city park, and that's primarily where he had hoped to sell.
The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department informed Robinson that he'll have two main options. He can find a place on private property and set up his cart there, or he must keep moving continuously except when serving a customer.
Friday afternoon Robinson said he wasn't yet sure what he'll end up doing.
"I'm just a little irritated, seeing as how I'm trying to do something positive, do something legal, and I'm getting more harassment than support from the city," he said.
When he's busy, Robinson can be stationary. But in slower times, he said there would be challenges in moving his hot dog cart. Fully loaded it weighs about 500-600 pounds, so even pushing it up the curb cuts would be "a little difficult."
It also contains hot water. "The possibility of a spill is something I was worried about," he said. "I would like to stay on the Square. It's just safer, and it makes sense."
He said Downtown Racine Corp. has tried to help him find a solution. Top Dog Hot Dogs, DRC Executive Director Devin Sutherland said, "certainly is a very positive addition to Downtown. We certainly want to figure out a way to make it work for him."
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Donnie Snow was not available Friday. Nor was the department's No. 2 official, Jack Schumann.
Even City Attorney Rob Weber was not sure just what Robinson could or could not do.
And health department sanitarian JoAnne Zlevor said Robinson could just sell on the sidewalk, if the cart goes back to its base every 24 hours. He tows it to a storage location each night.
But the sidewalk will only work, Zlevor said, if the police or Building Department don't object; Robinson did not want to block the sidewalk.
And Robinson said City Clerk Janice Johnson-Martin told him early in the week he couldn't be on the sidewalk, as he was violating his peddler's license.
If Top Dog Hot Dogs can't resolve its problems and be on Monument Square, there could be a surprise outcome. "Now that we're going through all these issues," Robinson said, "I might look at expanding into a store - like a sausage kitchen."