ONTARIO - Ontario City Council will not vote on a proposed ordinance limiting how long concession stands can operate at the same location in the city until September.

At Wednesday's council meeting, Ontario law director Andrew Medwid requested council table the ordinance until its Sept. 5 meeting to allow him time to do research. Council unanimously approved the request.

"During that time, nothing changes," councilman-at-large Larry Arnold told King of Ribs owner Ron Moton and several of his supporters in the audience Wednesday. "You operate business as usual."

What happens if the ordinance isn't passed?

The ordinance would limit concession stands in Ontario to operating at one location for 30 days before they would be required to move to a new location.

Ontario officials have said if city council doesn't pass the ordinance, all concession stands would be forced to shut down, as they wouldn't be legally allowed.

Medwid said he found although concession stands are defined as "any structure, vehicle or trailer designed to display goods, objects, apparel or food for direct sale to the general public" in the city's planning code, they're not mentioned anywhere else.

And according to another section of the city's planning code, if something is defined but not included in the planning code, it's "to be excluded," or not allowed in the city, Medwid said. The proposed ordinance allows them in the city, he said.

Changing the number of days?

If the ordinance passes, concession stands would be restricted only to 30 days of operation in a year, not 30 straight days. For example, if a stand were open five days a week, it could operate for six weeks.

Concession stands would be able to operate at the same location from year to year, but they could only operate at that location 30 days in one year.

Medwid said the length was set at 30 days because it's a calendar month, and for businesses open seven days a week that are moving around to different locations, they could let customers know their location by month, with the schedule continuing year to year.

Richland Public Health sanitarian supervisor Wes Engelbach said in Ohio, mobile food service operations are limited to 40 days of operation in one location before they're required to move. The number is set in the Ohio Revised Code.

At last month's council meeting, members discussed possibly extending the number of days from between 40 to 90. 

Medwid said Wednesday he met with health department officials last week after council made its request to change the number of days in the ordinance.

Medwid said after talking with them, he needs to research what the 40-day limit in the Ohio Revised Code includes.

"As usual, with some provisions of the Ohio Revised Code, it's as clear as mud, so I want to make absolutely certain as to exactly what's under a 40-day requirement, what isn't, you know, what courts have interpreted as 40 days," Medwid said. "Our ordinance says 30 days of operations. The ordinance I think does mention 40 days, so the question that might be is is 40 days under that shorter or longer than the 30 days in the ordinance? So that's some of the things that I want to research, and that'll just take some time."

At last month's council meeting, Moton requested council change the ordinance to 180 days.

'This is not a city council issue'

Moton said when he talked with the health department, he learned moving his stand even every 40 days could be as little as moving it a couple of inches.

"This is not a city council issue here," he said. "This is a health department issue, and they're trying to invade into their law. If the health department has a problem with me being in one spot, they should come and tell me, not the city council."

Arnold said Wednesday he was prepared to make a motion Wednesday night changing the ordinance to 180 days, saying he's "fine with" that number.

Arnold said he's heard comments from the public about the city over-stepping its boundaries, adding there's been "tremendous feedback" on the topic.

"It's all been in favor of letting this gentleman continue to operate," Arnold said. "We're here to speak on behalf of the citizens, and I haven't heard any opposition against him, and so who are we to stand in the way of this gentleman if he wants to continue to operate?"

Arnold added he's heard no opposition on allowing Moton to stay where he is.

"I'm about listening to the public," Arnold said. "Only one side's come out."

King of Ribs owner says he'd close

Moton says if council does pass the ordinance, he'll be forced to close.

Moton said he's been operating grills at various locations in Ontario since 2005. He has been operating the King of Ribs stand in the Lowe's parking lot on Lexington-Springmill Road each summer for five years.

Moton said he can't move to a new location every 30 days because it takes about three days to set up and tear down his stand, days that would be counted toward the 30-day limit. Plus, he said there are days he might have to close because of rain, cold or heat.

Moton added it can be difficult to find a new lot to move to, and he said customers won't be willing to follow a rotating location schedule.

Moton said a majority of his customers come from outside Ontario to eat his ribs, bringing business to the city. As of July 30, a petition asking the city to allow him to remain where he is had 1,127 signatures. He estimated only about 15 are Ontario residents.

Moton added he doesn't know of any complaints the city has received about his business. He said he feels targeted.

Moton's stand is currently open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. He said he plans to be open until October.

"My food is a big drawing point in this city," he said. "And if someone don't want me there, I'll be out."

Other parts of the ordinance

Under the ordinance, concession stand operators would need to get a free permit from the city zoning inspector before operating.

Ontario Mayor Randy Hutchinson suggested if the ordinance passes, it should not go into effect until next year so that if current concession stand operators already have a signed lease for this year, they won't lose money on the lease.

Third-ward councilman Mark Weidemyre previously said some Ontario restaurants have complained about temporary concession stands operating as permanent restaurants, which is one of the reasons the proposal was introduced.

There are exemptions in the ordinance: for concession stands that are part of a temporary outdoor amusements, like festivals; stands run by 501c3 organizations; and stands on someone's own property, such as retailers having tent sales.

According to the ordinance, if a concession stand operator operates for more than 30 days in one location, the business would have its permit revoked and wouldn't be eligible to receive another permit for five years.

Operators would be subject to a $1,000 fine per day for each day the stand is open without a permit or with an expired permit or is in one location for more than 30 days in a year.

The city can seek an injunction to stop concession stands from operating if there are any violations, according to the ordinance.


Twitter: @EmilyMills818

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