Wednesday, January 21, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
31
Food carts part of ongoing business debate in Sisters
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
The recent approval of
the siting of food carts at
Eurosports in downtown
Sisters has pulled the scab off
of an ongoing and sometimes
contentious debate over the
types of business that should
be allowed and encouraged
in Sisters.
There is longstanding ten-
sion between some propri-
etors of “brick-and-mortar”
businesses and low-overhead
non-brick-and-mortar busi-
nesses operating out of tents
or stands — or carts. Some
see such businesses bring-
ing more people into town
to shop, to the benefit of all
businesses. Others see them
as taking advantage of the
business climate created
by existing businesses and
“skimming the cream” with-
out the long-term commit-
ment and expense incurred
by downtown merchants.
For some, alternative
vendors create a sense of
vibrancy and activity, while
others see them as detract-
ing from the aesthetics of
the recently renovated down-
town core.
To a large extent, all
views are subjective. It is dif-
ficult to quantify the impact
— positive or negative — of
alternative vendors on mer-
chants’ bottom line. And the
effect may vary from store
to store, with some reaping
benefits and some taking a
hit. And aesthetics, of course,
are in the eye of the beholder.
Another aspect to the same
discussion is the question of
“formula foods.” The city
has been debating for years
how to properly define what
a “formula food” establish-
ment is and whether and how
many should have access to
the Sisters market to compete
with local “mom-and-pop” or
boutique restaurants.
Eurosports owner Brad
Boyd is a 25-year brick-and-
mortar merchant in Sisters —
and he is planning to bring in
alternative vendors.
Eurosports rents and sells
recreation equipment, winter
and summer. Boyd purchased
the corner lot and moved the
25-year-old business last
spring and summer. He also
sells micro-brew beers and is
trying to develop the court-
yard into a pleasant place
for people to hang out — “a
cool, fun space.”
The food cart operators
will pay Boyd an annual
lease. He hopes to establish
whatever number is viable as
permanent fixtures — though
he acknowledges that there
may be turnover. An analo-
gous business model would
be the burrito and taco stand
located at Space Age Gas
or the small kitchen adja-
cent to Sisters Market that
has housed a Hawaiian food
stand and a gourmet hot dog
stand.
The idea is to create a des-
tination stop for people look-
ing for a particular kind of
eating experience.
“A food cart pod is what
the county calls them,” Boyd
said. “It’s a food cart pod.”
He believes that food
carts will enhance the down-
town experience for visi-
tors — many of whom come
from cities where they are
an established dining option.
Food cart pods draw traf-
fic in other cities and that
is the model Boyd hopes to
develop.
“They bring people to that
area,” he said. “More people
in the downtown area is a
good thing.”
Others have concerns.
“After the road project,
town looks so good and I feel
it brings the aesthetic level
down,” said Melissa Ward,
Ranch, Residential &
Commercial Sales/Leasing
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who wrote a letter of oppo-
sition to Boyd’s site plan
application.
She disputes the way the
city planning staff defined
food carts.
“To make the food carts
just like restaurants is a
very crude assessment, in
my opinion,” she said. “A
very convenient but crude
assessment.”
Ward, who operates a
long-time business of her
own in the downtown core,
says she believes there is a
major distinction between the
brick-and-mortar merchant
and the alternative vendor.
“We’re a part of the com-
munity,’ she said. “We con-
tribute. We donate to every
single thing that comes
through the door. You can’t
ask that of a food cart.”
Similar feelings have been
expressed regarding transient
vendors who set up during
the Sisters Outdoor Quilt
Show and at vendor fairs dur-
ing the summer. Controversy
over these issues blossomed
anew when Celia Hung and
Richard Esterman proposed
using a vacant lot at the cor-
ner of Cascade Avenue and
Pine Street for a series of
vendor-based events.
Chuck Humphreys, an
economist by trade and a for-
mer member of the Sisters
Planning Commission
says that such tensions are
common.
“It’s what happens in
every economy,” he said.
“You have established busi-
nesses that want to protect
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themselves.”
Humphreys, who is a
friend of Boyd’s, thinks that
food carts will be a benefit to
Sisters — and less of a threat
to other establishment than
some might believe. While
the city considers food carts
dining establishment from
a legal and planning stand-
point, from an economist’s
standpoint there are key
differences.
“It’s a different prod-
uct,” Humphreys said.
“Restaurants sell food, but
they also sell the place to eat
it, the ambiance … people
are buying that experience to
some extent.”
By offering a different
option, “food carts are a way
of making the eating scene
more vibrant.”
It’s also a relatively low-
cost means for a food entre-
preneur to break into the
marketplace.
“If these are a low-cost
way of somebody getting into
the business, that’s good,” he
said.
Humphreys disputes
Ward’s point about contribu-
tion to the community.
“A food cart owner could
be a local person. It doesn’t
have to be somebody from
out of town,” he said. “Just
because they’re not a brick-
and-mortar doesn’t mean
they don’t have the same
social values.”
What and how much the
city should do to regulate
alternative forms of com-
merce has been a difficult
question to navigate. Acting
to limit competition and set
barriers to entry into the mar-
ketplace is a dicey proposi-
tion. Standards have to be
clear and if you’re setting
limits, the allocation system
for the available “slots” has
to be equitable, Humphreys
argues.
“Doing it in practice is
not so easy. Any time you try
to control competition you
have to be very cautious and
have a real clear explana-
tion of why that is justified,”
Humphreys cautioned.
Though aesthetics are
obviously subjective, that is
one area where government
can act effectively.
“You’d hate to have ratty
sorts of things all around
town,” Humphreys said.
“I’m sympathetic to that kind
of concern. That can be man-
aged. You can set standards.”
In Sisters’ case, those
standards revolve around
the city’s Western theme.
The food carts sited on the
Eurosports property will be
required to conform to that
theme.
It’s tough to make a go of
it in business in a seasonal
economy like Sisters. And,
Humphreys notes, the com-
petition Sisters businesses
— including restaurants —
face is region-wide, not just
within town. Success “is
always fragile.”
But, he argues, competi-
tion is essential to vibrancy.
“Is it a threat or an oppor-
tunity?” he says. “The classic
kind of things a management
consultant would talk about.”
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