Iowa City City Council Votes in Favor of Requiring Kinnick Vendors To Have Permits

Called a first step by many, the Iowa City City Council on Tuesday night unanimously passed the first reading of a city code amendment to make the game-day vendors along Melrose Avenue on Iowa football game days legal and accountable by purchasing $75 permits for the season and having trash receptacles.

The vote was one of three required approvals before the amendment is written into the code.

Doug Boothroy, director of housing inspection services for the city, told the council that this change to the ordinance provides much needed legal clarification for an activity that has been going on for years.

“The important thing about this amendment tonight is that currently temporary uses for commercial uses in that area are not recognized in the code,” Boothroy said.  “So this particular amendment would make game day commercial use a legal activity.”

The amendment restricts vendors to the area south of Kinnick Stadium, from Melrose Circle to the railroad bridge, leaving room for more vendors if desired, Boothroy said. Vendors, who can set up at 10 a.m. the day before game day, must stay clear of the sidewalks, have insurance, and follow fire, health code, and other regulations already in place.

No sale of alcohol will be allowed in the designated area and Boothroy said Iowa City police will help maintain a presence in conjunction with University police to ensure vendors are following procedure.

“We’re not rechecking what the county does, we’re just checking that the county has issued the permit,” he said, adding the University of Iowa indicated it “is moving forward” to provide more portable toilets and trash receptacles at a meeting Thursday, June 16.

Vendors like Ron Christensen, owner of Game Day Iowa, was pleased with the outcome of a series of meetings he participated in that addressed some of the issues surrounding Hawkeye football games.

“I’ve been to six meetings to get this far,” he said. “The University needs to step up. We need five times more porta-potties than what they have.”

As for the members of the community, the dangers of Big Ass Turkey Legs and shish kabob sticks left behind on lawns surrounding Kinnick Stadium after Hawkeye games – not to mention public urination –were some of the issues raised during the council meeting. Some of them suggested that they hoped the vendors could be moved to a different location near Kinnick.

Jean Walker, a member of the Melrose Neighborhood told the council Tuesday night that the neighborhood is not against having vendors at football games, but objects to their close proximity to their neighborhoods – something the city of Iowa City agreed with last April when they recommended banning the Melrose Avenue vendors altogether.

“For the protection of our pets and the neighborhood wildlife, the shish kabob sticks or any other life threatening food (should) be banned,” she said, displaying an alternative shish kabob stick to the council. “If not seen as a humane issue, this matter should be seen as a liability issue. For the same reason, if the turkey legs are not banned, the vendor should place a prominent notice on the stand, reminding people to dispose of the remains responsibly.”

Another member of the Melrose neighborhood, Shelton Stromquist, said some officials have “willfully turned a blind eye to the behavior,” behavior such as illegal activities like public urination and indecent exposure.

Stromquist asked that officials – and fans – take some responsibility for the behavior and “flagrant trespassing” through yards and gardens that shouldn't happen to the home owners on Melrose just because they happen to live on the wrong street.

“Of course we knew there was a Kinnick Stadium in which football games were played on Saturdays in the Fall,” he said. “We didn’t know or expect the outrageous and illegal behavior of some Iowa fans. It seems in many ways so out of character. It’s not the Iowa we know or deeply love.

"It is as if the Melrose neighborhood must necessarily succomb to being a site for such behavior, as if neighbors lose all rights in the face of the game day experience – I’m talking about massive urination in our yards.”

Boothroy said the amendment does build in some provisions for accountability.

“This particular regulation requires that each of the vendors have a trash container available for trash at all times,” he said.