Uptown Athens has always been a haven for deep-fried “drunk” food on weekend nights, but with the influx of late-night meals on wheels, some are wondering whether food buggies are becoming too much.
It used to be just a small slice of West Union Street that was regularly occupied by Burrito Buggy and Ali Baba’s, the two oldest food carts in town. Today, chow carts have settled in the parking lots of Court Street’s BP, Attractions Hair and Tanning, and Lamborn’s Studio and Custom Framing on West State Street.
To set up in those private lots, vendors must purchase a monthly peddler’s permit signed by Mayor Paul Wiehl for $25 per month, which four buggies have already done.
Vendors parked on city property, though, must purchase yearly permits. Athens City Code Enforcement has allotted three Category A vendor licenses this year, allowing Burrito Buggy, A-Town Pies and Fries, and Ali Baba’s to set up shop on College Book Store’s side of Union Street for as much as $1,200 per year.
On the opposite side of the street, four vendors have obtained a Category B license for $75 a year and additional parking-meter fees.
Vendors on city property also can buy an evening pass for $200, which four have purchased.
Category A and B rates increase by 3 percent each year, but that isn’t keeping vendors off the streets of Uptown Athens.
“(The number of buggies) exploded this spring,” said Elisa Schafer, Athens resident and Burrito Buggy employee. “I have never seen so many; it’s overwhelming.”
The buggy boom has taken a toll on stationary late-night joints such as GoodFella’s Pizza and Big Mamma’s Burritos. Some have taken their buggy concerns to Athens’ Office of Code Enforcement, director John Paszke said.
“It’s definitely affecting us, especially because the Burrito Buggy has the same type of food,” said Kyle Lead, manager of Big Mamma’s Burritos. “You can’t just have a million buggies Uptown. It’s just crowding it up.”
The parking lot neighboring Attractions — at the center of the Uptown bar lineup — is ideal for food buggies who are profiting from weekend nights.
“It’s like a food court in a mall: The more you serve, the more people are going to go there to eat,” said Eric Coon, the lot’s owner. “It’s a two-edged sword, though. I don’t want to run anybody out of business.”
But Coon wants to expand buggy business in the lot as much as the city will allow without eliminating too much parking space for weekend visitors.
“We’d like to be cooperative with the city,” he said. “But I think it would be a good thing if the city thinks so too.”
Paszke said not many buggies have been denied permits unless they didn’t pass health inspection. He said he isn’t sure yet how the city will handle the dilemma between suffering businesses and the abundance of buggies Uptown but that the decision will not include expanding the peddler populace.
“Everyone is trying to open up their own businesses,” Schafer said. “Competition is competition.”
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