Trailer diner foes want Hound Dogs scratched
MANCHESTER, Vt. - A vendor's new trailer has merchants up in arms.
Neil Schulman, 29, who owns Hound Dogs, has begun selling his hot dogs and hamburgers from a 16-foot trailer in Manchester Center, which some say gives him an unfair advantage over restaurants.
"This eyesore sheds a deplorable representation on the town of Manchester," said Guy Thomas, owner of The Double Hex Restaurant and Zoey's Deli. Thomas called the trailer a "visual assault" in a letter to the Manchester Journal. "The whole thing is tacky and smacks of Lake George at its worst."
Schulman, whose vending license isn't up for renewal until October, said he pays sales and property taxes and $500 annually for his permit.
"I think it's very petty, especially considering I'm the smallest business in Manchester being picked on by the CEO and president of whatever restaurant it was," he said of Thomas's letter.
Thomas isn't the only critic.
Activist James Sparkman has persuaded the Select Board to discuss Manchester's vending ordinance at a meeting Tuesday night.
The trailer is a "full-fledged diner on wheels" that goes beyond the initial intent of the ordinance, Sparkman said. "We've worked so hard to make this a tourist town, and attractiveness and ambiance are key ingredients to why people come here."
