After thousands invested, Oregon City denies man business license

OREGON CITY, Ore. – Mike Trauth said his new business, a hotdog cart, was shut down by the city manager after the city approved permits and he invested about $8,000 to get his business going.

After receiving his vending cart permit, Trauth picked out a site for his cart from a list supplied by the city. He even got a letter from Clackamas County that gave him permission to operate his stand outside the County Courthouse.

But then he received a call from the city’s business license office and he said he was told his money for his business license would be refunded.

“She called me and said I was not being allowed to go back on the street because my business license had not been issued and the city manager was shutting me down,” Trauth said.

City Manager Larry Patterson said it was a mistake by the Planning Department.

“There’s an ordinance on the books that—I don’t know how long it’s been there—that prohibits vending carts,” he said. “That’s got to get changed before we can issue a license.”

Patterson said planners never should have issued a vending cart permit. Trauth said city leaders let him down.

“They just simply snatched the rug out from under me and said, ‘Hey, we don’t want you. We don’t want your hotdog cart. You’re not important to us,’” he said.

Patterson said that he’s already working to get the ordinance changed but said it will need to be approved by the City Council, which could take a few months.