For 17 years, Hal McCloskey has sold roses along the River Walk, taking only the occasional day off for a Rolling Stones concert.
"I love what I'm doing," he said. "This is one of the better jobs I've had in my life, and I've had plenty of jobs."
McCloskey sells hundreds of roses along the River Walk each week, but downtown leaders say the popular tourist attraction just isn't the place for vendors like him.
Next month the City Council is scheduled to consider a proposal aimed at giving vendors a legal shot at tourism dollars while quieting concerns that vending is turning the city's crown jewel into a carnival. The measure would be at least the third ordinance attempting to limit vending along the River Walk.
"You have to exercise reasonable controls on the river or ultimately you'll lose the beauty and uniqueness of it," Mayor Phil Hardberger said. "When all is said and done, it's probably best not to have vendors on the river."
In a years-long battle, downtown leaders have maintained that vendors -- who sell items including blinking devil horns, incandescent swords, roses, caricatures and live mariachi performances -- detract from the River Walk's natural charm. Vendors insist they are part of that charm.
"People enjoy what I do. It adds to the River Walk," said Robert Martinez, a caricature artist who has worked on the river for more than a decade.
Martinez said the fight over vending is really about one thing: store operators' fear of competitors with less overhead.
"Some of the bigger businesses want to have control on the River Walk," he said. "They feel that if a smaller business like mine comes in, it's taking away from their business."
Opponents of River Walk vending insist that isn't the case.
"It's not about the small guy vs. the big guy," said Greg Gallaspy, executive director of the Paseo del Rio Association. "It's that there's a place for vending, hawking and peddling, but it's just not on the River Walk."
Still, tourist Kailash Agrawal, who moved to Austin from India three years ago, doesn't think vendors take anything away from the River Walk experience. "As long as they're just sitting on the side, I don't mind them at all," he said.
Vendors have been working on the river for as long as anyone can remember. As early as the 1950s, the city made it illegal to vend on the river, but the restriction was never enforced.
"At the time, there weren't a whole lot of restaurants and businesses down here, so the city did allow some vendors in some locations," said Parker Scott, president of Paseo del Rio and director of operations for two River Walk restaurants.
The city most recently amended its vending ordinance in 2004. The measure required the Paseo del Rio Association to issue permits for vending along the river, but it wasn't enforced because of a lawsuit filed by the Downtown Vendors Association.
Vendors argued the ordinance wasn't legal because Paseo del Rio, an agency opposed to vending and not affiliated with city government, would have been charged with overseeing the permitting process. And they said the city didn't follow proper procedures in implementing the measure.
A court decided Paseo del Rio could legally issue permits, but none was issued after the ruling. Gallaspy said lawyers for both the association and the city advised against issuing permits because of the litigation.
"What the vendors would like is a legal avenue to sell their goods and services," said Paul Fletcher, an attorney representing the vendors group. "They want a workable set of regulations that allows them to stay in the tourism market."
The proposal the council is to hear next week would let vendors work on private property with an operator's permission or get a permit to lease one of several designated River Walk locations. It's not clear what permits would cost or how the process would work, but an $8,000 annual licensing fee has been discussed.
McCloskey said it's a proposal he can live with, but for Martinez it's another story:"I'd have to think of finding another city where I'm more welcomed," he said.
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