Things are getting ugly in Eastsound.

For the past several weeks, there has been a quiet but impassioned feud being carried out between business owners and a street vendor who is setting up his stand on the corner. The police have been called by both sides, but there really isn’t anything to enforce. The sidewalk can be used on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Which is why the county needs to adopt the street vendor ordinance as soon as possible. The ordinance was set to be considered by the council on Tuesday, July 14, after the Sounder went to press. We hope it was passed – but if more revisions need to be made, they need to be done swiftly.

The proposed ordinance requires non-exempt vendors using public places in Eastsound to obtain a six-month use permit from the county (which would be free) and pay a daily fee of $25. The fine for an infraction is $250.

“Public place” includes any county-owned property within the exterior boundaries of the Eastsound Unincorporated Urban Growth Area, including public parks, streets, sidewalks and rights-of-way.

“Vendor” includes any person engaged in selling or offering for sale any goods or wares from any public place. The following persons would be exempt from license fees: newspaper carriers, peddlers and transient vendors who carry their goods door to door, charitable, religious or fraternal groups, nonprofit organizations, farmers, gardeners and other persons who produce and manufacture their own fruit or produce, and any person with a permit to sell goods or wares at the Eastsound Farmers’ Market or any authorized event.

While the sight of a sidewalk vendor may be charming, the implications for local business owners who pay for a storefront all year could be enormous, and for the island farmer who pays for a booth in the farmers market. Because sidewalk vendors don’t have the costs of maintaining a storefront, they can often charge less for their products – sometimes just a few feet away from a local shop. And, if that vendor is not an Orcas resident, all of their profits leave the island. It’s particularly unfair if a vendor is selling goods that were not created or grown on the island and could have been purchased a very reduced price.

The Orcas Chamber of Commerce board of directors took an official position of not supporting any street vendors on the public right of way, a sentiment that many Eastsound businesses share.

The county ordinance is intended to help level the playing field. If street vendors are required to pay a fee, it protects the farmers and merchants who live and work here all year long, pay local taxes, and rely on a summer season.

Let’s get this issue resolved. We don’t want street vendors undermining the vitality of downtown Eastsound.