Several years ago, due to pressure from big money interests, Fargo enacted draconian regulations on anyone who wants to do outdoor food vending in downtown Fargo.

The changes were made because two downtown businesses were having a battle over business and sidewalk hot dog grilling (a commenter below fills the story in a bit).

Essentially the regulations make it impossible for someone to buy a food cart (like I once wanted to) and serve hot dogs on the sidewalk downtown. You pretty much have to be a restaurant owner with a dedicated space to store your cart, and the space has to meet unbelievable requirements -- sewer requirements, etc...

We should not allow this kind of big buck bullying in our city. Nor should we buy into the bogus "health concerns" argument raised by those same big buck bullies. The health code we had was perfectly sufficient. If I want to buy a hot dog from a sidewalk vendor, I'll examine their operation with my own eyes and decide whether they're sanitary.

Relax these regulations so we can have a real urban environment downtown, just like Minneapolis and Winnipeg, among others.