13-year-old Holland hot dog vendor shut down by city hall gets generous offer, outpouring of support
Published: Thursday, July 19, 2012, 9:21 PM Updated: Friday, July 20, 2012, 10:14 AM
Nathan Duszynski, 13, is selling his hot dog cart after Holland city officials stopped him from selling hot dogs downtown on River Avenue due to zoning restrictions.
HOLLAND, MI — The Johnson family phone has been ringing nonstop Wednesday and Thursday after the story of Nathan Duszynski’s unsuccessful attempt to sell hot dogs from a mobile cart struck a nerve with readers.
Duszynski, 13, was told by city officials on Tuesday that his cart was in violation of a Holland zoning law that protects existing food businesses downtown against competition from mobile food vendors.
The teenager put his cart up for sale, prompting a flood of offers, said his mother, Lynette Johnson. The family ended up selling the $2,500 cart — for which Duszynski paid half — to Bob Zucker of Shoreline Container on Thursday.
Zucker offered to cover the family’s cost and pledged to let Duszynski use the cart as much as he wants, save for a handful of days the company needs it for events, said Johnson.
“Nathan is feeling much better now,” Johnson said. “He’s very excited he can still use it.”
The family will finalize the agreement and deliver the cart to the company Friday. The company plans to let Duszynski use the cart free of charge.
“We got tons of phone calls,” she said. “The phone has been ringing off the hook with offers and people who wanted to say nothing else other than they wished more kids were like Nate.”
Duszynski’s initiative struck a chord with MLive readers, who overwhelmingly supported the teenager’s attempt to start a business at an age when most boys are more interested in video games.
Readers encouraged Duszynski to “keep up the fight” while simultaneously blasting the zoning ordinance that he ran afoul of. Mobile food vendors have to be located adjacent to, and be a part of an existing business that already has a food service license. Duszynski is too young for a “peddler’s” license that would have allowed the cart to operate as long as it stayed in place no longer than 10 minutes.
“If I had any advice for this kid I would find the zoning border to where I could set-up shop and I would plant my cart 1 inch from that border,” wrote reader fonzarelly.
Many simply blamed “overregulation” by local government, but reader Archer felt that it was more complicated.
“The problem is not so much over regulation. The problem is the system makes it difficult to know what all the regulations are. The family thought they had jumped through all the proper hoops and were ready to go, but were tripped up by a separate zoning issue that didn't come up until after they had all the other permits and paper work ready. It would've been better if the government made it easy to know all the regulations that are likely to cause problems ahead of time instead of forcing you to learn them as you go.”
The city says they tried to reach the Johnson family when they realized there may have been an issue with the zoning after the family came in to get paperwork squared away, but a miscommunication caused the message to fall though.
Some readers noted that laws which zone mobile vendors to the fringes of downtown keep such vendors from the place where they could be most successful. Others, like reader Rikkitikkitembo, expressed sympathy for Duszynski but acknowledged the reason for such zoning laws.
“Man, this is a tough story because both sides have such valid points. I have to lean toward the establishments based on the taxes they pay. They have a larger capitol investment than this kid, but then again business is about low overhead and maximum profits. Maybe the kid is just a better businessman (kind of scary). Either way I support this kids drive and determination GREAT JOB KID! America needs more young people like you. I foresee someone stepping up to help this kids cause.”
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