BRODHEAD – At their May 17th meeting the Brodhead Common Council approved an ordinance which gives mobile food vendors the ability to sell their eats and treats on private or public property in the city. Police Chief Chris Hughes stated the City’s Public Safety Committee started researching the need for such an ordinance back in in 2017, but interest faded. In the later part of 2020 interest took an uptick, thus the Public Safety Committee renewed their review, Hughes said.
After several months of taking public input and balancing the need for such vendors with that of the impact such vendors could have on property tax paying businesses, the Committee presented a draft ordinance to the Common Council. The Committee felt the ordinances presented addressed public safety and health concerns, as well as efforts to attract commerce to the city. After deliberating the Committee’s recommendation during their April and May meetings the Council agreed helping an upstart or an established vendor bringing a variety of food not offered currently could lead to a potential new property tax paying “brick and mortar” business, Hughes said.
The ordinance passed by Council has many similarities to that of Janesville’s ordinance. It allows those mobile food vendors who obtain a city permit to sell hot or cold, freshly prepared or packaged food, ice cream, shaved ice or frozen, confectionaries, etc. along city streets, or on public or private properties. Hughes stated there is some confusion on what constitutes a mobile vendor, but in short, he said, if it fits the State’s definition of a mobile food establishment in that food is served or sold from a vehicle, pushcart, or trailer, which changes location, and requires a service base to service, clean, inspect, and maintain, the vehicle, pushcart, or tailer, then a city permit is required.
The ordinance has several restrictions mobile food vendors are required to follow, the most notable being:
● Need to carry liability insurance.
● Must have all State required licenses.
● Sales can only occur between 8 a.m. and dusk.
● Vendors cannot sell within 200 feet of an event issued a permit by the City or a City Park that has been reversed. Vendors would need to get permission from the event organizer, and in the case of a city park permission from the Park and Recreations Director.
● If parked on a public street, on public property or in a public parking lot, vendors can only remain in that area for 60 minutes.
● Vendors are prohibited from setting up tables or chairs, otherwise referred to a sidewalk café, on any public property, sidewalk, or streets for people to dine on.
The mobile food vendor permits are valid from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, and does require an annual fee. Hughes said the fee is to help offset the cost associated with the city staff who are required to review an application. However, the ordinance does not require the permit fee to be submitted if the applicant is a bonafide non-profit group or has rented a space during a Brodhead Chamber of Commerce event. The annual fee is $100 for motorized vehicles or trailers, and $50 for non-motorized carts. The fee will not be prorated and the permits will need to renewed every year for the same fee. The ordinance does not set a cap on the number of mobile vendors allowed in the city.
To obtain a permit application as well as a copy of all requirements and regulations contact the Brodhead City Clerk’s Office at 608-897-4018 or go to the City’s website http://www.cityofbrodheadwi.us/.