Funnel cake vendor shut down at event

Officials took the fun out of funnel cakes last Friday night at the Williamston Downtown Stage.

The Williamston Downtown Stage’s showing of the Super Mario Brothers was interrupted last Friday night when a funnel cake vendor was shut down for not having a mobile vendor license. The food truck ordinance had been a social media point of contention since it was announced food vendors would be allowed — with the proper permitting — to partake in the downtown stage events. Initially the problem arose due to alleged confusion with the town’s food truck ordinance.

“This all came about from a number of misunderstandings. The funnel cake vendor had not received a mobile vendor license so clearly did not meet the mobile vendor requirements. However, it was thought that if he was on private property and setting up under a tent, that they were good,” said Williamston Town Administrator Eric Pearson. “Additionally, there was no special event permit issued, so the distance requirements were not statutorily waived. So, I did have to shut him down.”

It only took moments for the funnel cake shut down to hit social media where accusations and name calling became abundant. Facebook was full of parents acknowledging tearful children watching the funnel cake vendor being shut down.

“I asked the police to stop by to politely have the funnel cake vendor shut down. They did so very professionally as they always do,” Pearson said. “The catch is that I was unaware that Porkeys, the person putting on the event, was also there with hotdogs and drinks. That would have been OK if there would have been a special event permit, but a violation otherwise. The officer was unaware of all the details so did not shut down the hotdog sales.”

Pearson met with Williamston Mayor Dean McCall regarding the incident. The town commission agreed to hold a special meeting on May 13 to address the food ordinance and attempt to alleviate the current confusion.

“I look forward to having this meeting as there is just way too much misunderstanding. It also needs to be done on behalf of our newly hired Planning and Zoning Supervisor, Andrew Brownfield, as he will be the one overseeing this permitting process from this point further,” said Pearson.

The May 13 meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. at Williamston Town Hall.