On September 21st 2017 We became the third Itinerant vendor licensed by the city of Canton, Ohio since 2011! We are very proud of this fact having completed all the prerequisite checks and balances of the requirements to sell within the city limits of Canton, Ohio!
LICENSE UPDATE: September 14th 2018, our Itinerant permit was approved to provide food service for the Canton Ohio Cultural Center of the Arts.
I've decided to publish a copy of my permit for several reasons, but mostly to make it easier for anyone to investigate the validity of my ability to legally operate the Towpath Trail Snack Shack within the city limits of Canton, Ohio! Why would this even matter to me when anyone can telephone the Canton, Ohio Public Safety Department Licenses and Permits Bureau and simply ask? Would you believe, that during the first three weeks of operating outside the south plaza in downtown Canton, Ohio after we obtained permission from the business owner at 2306 West Tuscarawas Street that we've experienced, what one could interpret as a form of harassment type inquiries, almost on a weekly basis.
Today, December 22nd 2017, a former disgruntled employee of a business where we obtained written permission to sell hot dogs on their property commented on their Facebook business page that he contacted the city of Canton, Ohio to "report" us for operating at that location and hopes we have a permit! Gee whiz, not this routine again! I almost find it comical that just yesterday on Thursday Dec 7th, I pulled the hot dog & Sausage trailer from Stark County's second most heavily traveled spot to our home location in Bolivar, Ohio for Winter maintenance due to freezing cold weather.
On December 8th 2017, I wrote on our Facebook page at URL: https://www.facebook.com/TowpathTrailSnackShack/
"We just got a visit from the Canton Health Department and didn't even open today!
I was able to talk to the Inspector Brian and let him know that my license & Canton permit is indeed in order and Shirley Moore who's in charge of Canton Permits and Licenses has copies of all the required documents! I also have everything on-line within our website and our Facebook group, including the results of our Stark county surprise inspection at an event in Canal Fulton, Ohio!
I asked the Inspector Brian if it was a council member who owns a restaurant that called to complain, but he didn't confirm or deny the question. I let him know that they also verified my credentials before I sold the first hot dog on the very first day I setup at Buried Treasures on West Tuscarawas due to a complaint made!
It just seems ridiculous to me that anyone would complain about the same vendor weekly (ME), even after all the documents have been verified since day one! Furthermore, the city of Canton has all the documents in their files too!
I just about feel it's a form of harassment and I might just go to the next Canton Council meeting to complain about it since it appears that half of the council owns restaurants that have a thing against mobile vendors! Supposedly, it's because restaurants charge sales tax and most mobile food vendors don't. They've even suggested in news articles that we aren't contributing members of the community as a result!
All I have to say to them is restaurants are passing through their registers a vendor sales tax collected by the consumer for eating on their premises! This mobile vendor is promoting the Towpath Trail and raising funds to establish a permanent Snack Shack on the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail property easement, I've already donated! Give me a break and let me sell a couple hot dogs to achieve the dream!
Rant over & I feel better again!"
On November 28th 2017 I wrote:
"I just enjoyed a visit from the Stark county health department because someone called to complain about a mobile vendor! Surprise, surprise, this mobile vendor has his stuff together! Half Canton city council owns restaurants which argue mobile vendors don't contribute to the community, due to not collecting sale tax for to go food.
All I have to say is, this vendor is on a mission to promote the towpath trail and a peace park on land already contributed through a donation, as opposed to simply remitting a tax that is collected for the government!"
If you'd like to contact the City of Canton to verify our permit is legit, here's the proper contact information from their web page at URL: https://cantonohio.gov/police/?pg=642
Licenses and Permits Bureau
General Information
Canton City Hall
Police Department
218 Cleveland Avenue SW
Canton, OH 44702
Phone
330-489-3268
Fax
330-430-7964
Email
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
#Canton #CantonOhio #TowpathTrailSnackShack #StarkCounty #StreetFood #StreetFoodVendor #HotDogs #ChiliDog
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