When Carol Pomeroy lost her husband almost three years ago, she felt what anyone would – she was heartbroken. She and her sons found that summers were the worst because, as a bus driver, that season gave her the most free time to sit and think about the past.

This past winter Carol, on the advice of her children and friends, looked into finding an activity for the upcoming summer. Carol decided to purchase a hot dog cart. She did research through the winter, bought all of the equipment and supplies, applied and received all of the proper permits and started selling Texas hot wieners in a parking lot in Napanoch right off of Route 209 South (Carol received permission to use the land from Joe Tso, the lot's owner.)

Carol started out by selling her hot dogs on weekends in May and June. Since her job for the Rolling V Bus Company went on hiatus for the summer, she has been in the lot six days a week. But if you ask Carol, the reason for the hot dog cart is more for her own peace of mind than any economic boost. "It was like therapy. You have no idea how many people come by just to chit-chat. It's sort of become the 'meeting place'. It's nice."

At first, the location, across from Peters' Market and near the town's prison, appeared to be the perfect spot as Carol estimated that she had 70 visitors a day. But about two weeks ago things changed. Carol claims that she was approached by Wawarsing Town Supervisor James Dolaway to move her business down to the Lippman Park concession stand.

Dolaway explains his reason for the visit, saying, "My predecessor [Supervisor Richard Craft] had a concession area built at Lippman Park several years ago and it had never been occupied. I approached Carol because I hold her in high regard. I know she has a lot of energy and I figured she could make it [the concession stand] a success."

Carol, not interested in a move to a new location that would take her off the main road, continued to do business. She says that Councilman Tom Geelan approached her about the same issue and she informed him that she was not interested in the Lippman Park location.

That would have been the end of it for Carol had she not then been informed that she was in violation of the Town of Wawarsing's peddler's permit law. Carol, who had received permits from the Ulster County Health Department authorizing her to sell her food, was never informed about any permit until she had turned down the two town officials' offer. Dolaway claims that he was unaware of the local law, himself, until July 18 of this year. He was informed about it by Town Clerk Jane Eck.

A law governing peddlers was originally passed on June 28, 1955. The fee for a peddler permit was $100.00 – the same as it is now. The law has been amended several times over the last 52 years with the last change coming in 1992. Carol, who felt like she was being unfairly singled out and harassed, wonders why she wasn't informed of the required permit before now.

Dolaway explained that the 1992 version of the law does not appear in the Town of Wawarsing's current codebook. Why that is the case is unclear. Dolaway suggests that it could be due to an error made by the publishers of the town's codebook that was never corrected.

But Carol became suspicious about other reasons why the permit had become an issue. James' General Store, owned by Dolaway, is right down the street from Carol's hot dog cart. She feels that he might be unhappy about competition – a charge he strongly rejects.

"I never had an issue with her. I am a small businessman myself. I was happy for her. The peddlers law just fell through the cracks. My building department wasn't even aware of it because it wasn't in the handbook. It had nothing to do with my store," said Dolaway.

Carol obtained her permit last Wednesday but says she is not sure if she will stay. "I have this dirty feeling from this whole business. It's not as much fun now."

Currently, there is one other vendor in the Town of Wawarsing who has received the peddler's permit. Dolaway admits that there have been complaints in the past about roadside vendors in the Town of Wawarsing including an operation that sold furniture out of the Ellenville Lanes parking lot as well as a variety of other food, flower and miscellaneous goods peddlers.

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