Members of the Canton Township Board of Trustees reached a compromise and agreed to a license extension for the Slows Bar BQ food truck in Cherry Hill Village.
Following complaints from several local restaurants regarding the failure of the food truck to pay taxes in the community and citing an unfair competitive edge, trustees had rejected the Slows’ license extension request at the Aug. 25 meeting by a 4-3 vote.
Trustees received a letter from operators of six other brick and mortar restaurants in the community criticizing the $250 monthly license rate charged Slows, claiming that minimal fee gave the food truck an unfair financial advantage as their businesses bear “a much higher financial burden in operating costs and contribute more to the community.”
Following that decision, Township Clerk Michael Siegrist called a special board meeting Sept. 1 at the request of trustees Steven Sneideman and Anne-Marie Graham-Hudak, both of whom supported the extension of the Slows license at the emergency meeting last week.
Slows will now pay $750 per month in licensing to operate on Saturdays and Sundays in Cherry Hill Village until Oct. 5, stipulations approved by a 5-2 vote of the board members during the emergency meeting.
Supervisor Pat Williams and Trustee John Anthony cast the no votes on the extension.
Williams said his no vote was based on the extreme hardships faced by all brick-and-mortar businesses by COVID-19.
