The entrepreneurial idea is as American as, well, ice cream — but the bureaucracy at City Hall may be freezing out peddlers of the tasty treats in Salt Lake City parks.
After launching a bicycle business to sell ice cream in capital city parks this summer, Bret Cali figured he was onto something sweet. After all, his “green” business model seemingly satisfies both the mayor’s agenda and sun-drenched kids looking for a cheap snack.
He contracted a local bike builder to forge a fleet of tandem-style cruisers with ice-cream buckets on the back. In May, Cali’s 12 peddlers were fingerprinted and background-checked, allowing him to score a business license checked “other.”
But over recent weeks, a dustup between Stick Dog bicycle vendors and the longtime owner of Liberty Park Grill has turned the operation sour.
Suddenly, city bureaucrats are paying attention to the “rogue” vendors at Liberty, Sugar House and Jordan parks and elsewhere. Turns out, both bike vendors and ice-cream trucks are illegal in all city parks based on two separate ordinances that are rarely enforced.
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