Daytona Beach city leaders are taking a closer look at how much vendors pay to operate during Bike Week and Biketoberfest — but some beachside business owners say the proposed changes could push even more business out of town.
Commissioners held a workshop to discuss updating the city’s vendor fee structure, which would tie costs to the size of a vendor’s space and where it is located. Under the proposed plan, a small spot of 100 square feet or less would cost $600 on the beachside, compared to $300 on the west side of Ridgewood Avenue.
Daytona Beach business owner Tom Caffrey says the competition for Bike Week dollars is already fierce.
“So it affects everything long term, right? Whether it’s the costs, the fees, they move other places. I mean, DeLand now has the first Saturday of Bike Week, which is in March,” Caffrey said.
Caffrey says the beachside has been at a disadvantage for years, pointing to what he describes as uneven attention from the city on either side of Ridgewood Avenue.
“Every year, for whatever reason, the city of Daytona has restricted our Bike Week on the beach side and on Beach Street. Anything east of Ridgewood is kind of the zone. Anything east of Ridgewood is not cared for the same way it is west of Ridgewood,” he said.
Caffrey says the drop-off in visitors over the years has been significant.
“I don’t know what the solution is, but all I know is that we’re a far cry from what we used to be in 2008, 2009, when we would have six, seven, 800,000 people come to our town, spread out on Beach Street, go down the boardwalk,” Caffrey said.
Beachside business owners say they want equal fees and equal opportunities compared to businesses on the west side of town. Commissioner Ken Strickland says the city simply needs to modernize its approach.
“We need to be competitive with surrounding cities with what they’re doing and with East Side, West Side,” Strickland said.
Strickland says the existing rules are long overdue for an update.
“I think we’ve been using the same four-page list of Bike Week guidelines for a long time, so it’s time to revisit that,” he said.