In a progressive town like Charlottesville, the owner of a 31-year-old business on the Downtown Mall says it’s time that equivalent rules and regulations are imposed on downtown storefronts and street vendors alike. His request comes in the form of a petition.
“We’re a fast city, man,” says Tony LaBua, the owner of Chaps Ice Cream. “Let’s make it fair.”
While it varies widely, depending on the building and its use, downtown brick-and-mortar business owners can expect to pay between $18 and $22 per square foot a year in rent, along with fees for electricity, water, sewer and other accommodations, according to Chris Engel, the city’s director of economic development.
That adds up to quite a bit more than the $250 per quarter that most street vendors are required to pay, says LaBua. An extra, say, $200 per month from the vendors, might level out the playing field, he suggests.
Even though he says he “love[s] having vendors on the mall,” the “one-man band,” LaBua, plans to start knocking on Downtown Mall doors in the coming weeks to gather signatures for his petition, which says vendor fees should be increased. He has already gathered a few from people walking by his restaurant.
LaBua will then present the petition to City Council, under the guidance of Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville Co-Chair George Benford, who says his organization is not taking a stance on the matter.
Hearing of the petition for the first time, several downtown vendors refused to comment, but mentioned that business has declined over the years and tighter restrictions on their operations have already been imposed.
“I couldn’t afford to do this if I had to pay more,” says Nym Pedersen, who sells original artwork in a shared assigned space in front of the fountain on the Downtown Mall.
While there are currently 17 assigned locations for vendors paying $250 per quarter, only 11 are actively rented, according to Engel. And 19 unassigned locations are filled by 10 nonprofit organizations, which pay $25 per year, and nine other vendors who pay $50 less per quarter than those who set up shop in an assigned location.
The city’s Commissioner of Revenue’s Office collects a $125 peddler’s license from vendors and says they should be collecting and remitting sales and use tax to the state, just like storefronts. The two food vendors, who declined to comment, must also pay the same monthly meals tax—5 percent of gross receipts—to the commissioner.
“For a lot of the vendors, this is their livelihood,” says Pedersen.
While Pedersen has largely sold his art on the weekends for the past three years, those walking down the mall on any given day will notice a scad of vendors offering colorful scarves, knit hats, sunglasses, jewelry and incense from morning until night.
Vendors don’t pay for amenities like water or electric because they don’t have the luxury of using their own restrooms—or even setting up in a dry space when the weather is bad, Pedersen says. Because the mall already caters to “big businesses that can stomach a lot of fees,” like chains such as CVS and Kilwins, Pedersen adds that Charlottesville is gradually losing its small-town feel.
“My own personal mission is to promote my work and to sell art that is affordable,” he says. “We provide a lot of flavor to the mall.”