There is debate in Woodstock over the decision to allow a food truck operated by the White Cottage restaurant to occupy a parking spot alongside the Woodstock Green. The Woodstock Village Board of Trustees is now considering ways to resolve the issue.
A peddler’s license is a permit required for individuals or businesses that engage in door-to-door sales, street vending, or temporary sales of goods and services within the Village of Woodstock. In June, John Hurley, owner of the White Cottage Snack Bar in Woodstock, petitioned for a peddler’s license to open a food truck during the summer and fall months along The Green. This application was approved by the acting Woodstock Police Chief Chris O’Keeffe, a spot along The Green was secured, and Hurley opened for business in June. However, this has been met with pushback, as evidenced by public comments that were made during the trustees meeting on Tuesday, July 8.
At the beginning of the meeting, during the time allotted for public comment, Eduardo Banks, owner of Splendid Bakes, located at 4 The Green, addressed the trustees, saying, “I am here to pose a simple question to the board. We run a small business, and we pay year-round. We endure the ups and downs, struggle through mud season, work and wait for the weather to break and begin to see an increase in business. My question for you is: Why should I keep my business in Woodstock if, when we finally start to see some positive return, you allow for a big food truck to set up right across from my shop with a big sign, and take much needed business away from me? Why should I keep paying a town that does not care about my business’s well-being or success?”
Other public comments followed, expressing disappointment about the specific location of the White Cottage food truck, to which trustee Lisa Lawlor replied, “Currently, we are unable to say a peddler cannot be there.”
Jeff Kahn, vice chair of the trustees, later told the Standard, “We are working to reclaim the ability to approve or deny peddler’s licenses.” According to Kahn, this right currently lies with the Woodstock Chief of Police.
Acting Chief O’Keeffe agreed with Kahn’s opinion that the power to award peddler’s licenses should be with the trustees. “To me, this issue does not fall under police jurisdiction,” O’Keeffe opined.
“We heard and have taken the comments made at last week’s meeting into consideration and are pursuing different ways of resolving this issue,” Kahn told the Standard. “I do not foresee this being resolved in the near future, because both sides of the argument are true — the village desperately needs more food options, specifically around lunchtime and specifically on Sundays and Mondays when most village restaurants are closed, and we can also understand where Eduardo is coming from.”
While no decision has been made regarding the control over who can approve peddler licenses, the village can expect a continued discussion at the next trustee meeting in August.
For more on this, please see our July 17 edition of the Vermont Standard.
