County shuts down hotdog cart: Gary Rossy of Lehigh stands in front of his hotdog car that earns him a living. It is usually parked on the lot at the First Community Congregational Church but last week, code enforcement officers told him to close up shop, that it was illegal for him to operate in Lehigh. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Gary Rossy of Lehigh Acres has been running an outside hotdog vending business from the same location on Leeland Heights Blvd. for the past several months and he says the county has told him to shut down, that he can’t sell hotdogs in Lehigh from a cart anymore.

Rossy, 47, has been located at 200 E. Leeland Heights Blvd. on the parking lot of the First Community Congregational Church since last August with the blessings of the church which is open for the public to use restroom there if they want.

But county code enforcement offices say he can’t continue to run his hotdog stand to earn money and they’ve told him to leave.

Rossy isn’t alone, there are at least three other hotdog vendors in Lehigh and they have been told to get out of town, even though they all have paid all types of licensing fees to the county to operate a business.

But Rossy says he is fighting back and he has defied county code enforcement officers by pulling his hotdog vending business back to the parking and putting up a sign telling people the hotdogs and chips are free, a donation, that he plans to make to the church and probably to his family which he says he must support.

Gary Rossy

News that hotdog vendors were being told to shut down in Lehigh hit one of the TV stations last week and since then, Rossy says people from as far away as Cape Coral have driven to Lehigh to sign his petition asking the county to change the laws and to let him remain open.

“If I want to operate in Fort Myers or Cape Coral, that apparently is okay, but they don’t want us in the county in unincorporated areas,” Rossy said. “And I and the others don’t think that is fair. They are trying to deny me from making a living. Times are hard and I lost my job and decided to do this to earn a living.”

Prior to last summer, he was working a site on Sunshine and Lee Blvd. and had paid all the fees, he says, that were required of him, and there he was also chased away. But he said one of the code enforcement officers had even stopped to buy a hotdog and chips from him.

“I follow all the rules about being so many feet from the street and having toilet facilities for the public, but one of the code officers told me that according to the law, I can’t sell hotdogs from my cart in Lehigh, that I should go to Fort Myers.

“I live here in Lehigh and I have many friends and regular customers who buy hotdogs and chips from me. I believe I should be entitled to work here,” he said.

Juan Berrios

So far by the weekend, he had more than 325 signatures on a petition that he plans to hand over to the Lee County Commission asking that the rules be changed to allow him to freely work for a living to support his family.

Juan Berrios, another resident of Lehigh, wants to open up a hotdog cart business and he said code enforcement has told him he can’t do it. So Berrios is also collecting signatures, he said, after paying high licensing fees.

“It’s okay apparently in Fort Myers, but not here. That makes no sense and we’re going to fight it.”

“I asked about getting back my money I paid for the permits and they told me ‘sorry, no refunds’ and that doesn’t sound fair,” Berrios said.

Berrios and three other hotdog vendors have met at Haney’s Cafe and formed a group of hotdog vendors to fight all the way to the Lee County Commission.

“We’re going with signatures and ask that the laws be changed so we can operate in unincorporated Lee County,” Berrios said.

In the meantime, Pastor Deb Frysinger of the First Community Congregational Church, says Rossy is a member of her congregation and he has her blessings to operate his business on the church parking lot. She said he cooks breakfasts free at the church on Saturday and Sunday mornings for the congregation.

This past week was busy for Rossy. People also were blowing their horns in support as they drove down Leeland Heights Blvd.

“I tell everyone that the hotdogs and chips are free and if they want to make a donation, that is fine, too,” he said. “They are signing my petitions and donating. I have it marked on the hotdog car that it’s free and that I’ll accept donations.”

If you want a hotdog, it’s $2 or a combo gets you two hotdogs and chips and a soda for $5 or you can get one hotdog, one soda and a bag of chips for $3.50. But for right now, they’re donations and he is not charging for what he’s selling.

“I hope he keeps it up. He has a right to make a living,” Pastor Frysinger said.