WILMINGTON — The City of Wilmington might be growing, but it remains a “one-horse town.”
When Wilmington Resident Sarah Grugen moved to Wilmington from Jacksonville, Fla., she had the intention of opening her own horse-drawn carriage business in Wilmington; it wasn’t until after she applied for a permit she found that one company possessed all of the city’s permits.
“I came here and was really excited about bringing a horse and carriage business and found that there was one here … I inquired about getting a permit for my horse and carriage and was told to speak to a Mr. Bluford … He told me there are only five permits in the city of Wilmington for horse and drawn carriage, and that all five permits were held by the same horse and carriage company for the last 30 years,” Grugen said.
While she was hesitant to say it was monopolization, she suggested maybe no other companies had come before and asked for a permit. She then requested City Council grant her two permits for both of her carriages.
“We would like to do small tours as well, and some weddings in the city limits … I feel like it is our right with the Constitution and the Sherman Act,” she said.
City Councilman Charlie Rivenbark voiced his concerns over the idea of one company holding all the permits for a particular type of business.
“If this is the case where there are five permits and one entity is controlling all five, I remember we had the same issue with the cab companies taking all the permits and warehousing them, or people doing bed and breakfasts and getting a permit and just sitting on it. This is just not right. I don’t want to throw anyone under the bus until I get all the details but we certainly need to do something about that,” Rivenbark said.
Currently, residents and visitors to downtown can take a horse-drawn buggy tour with Springbrook Farms Inc.
Malissa Talbert, communications manager for the City of Wilmington said via email, “We are looking into the situation now. It appears in the code that five is the permitted number, but not sure who has how many permits and when they were issued. These are treated like other ‘vehicles for hire’ (also includes limos, taxis, rickshaws, etc.) in our codes and ordinances and permits are issued through the police dept.”
No action was taken during the meeting since the item was not on the official agenda.
Michael Praats can be reached via email at Michael.p@localvoicemedia.com
