Over Before It’s Begun: Three Accounts Of Why Baby Hughy’s Closed

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Last Monday afternoon, at about 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 9, Baby Hughy’s posted on Facebook that their Trenton food truck would be closing that evening and the plan to build a restaurant will not come to fruition.

The post cited issues with local government but did not explain the details, leading to varied opinions and discussion. The initial post referenced “city hall” which led to some confusion because the location in question is not inside the city limits. Baby Hughy’s later clarified that the government body in question is Dade County.

The Sentinel contacted Eric Hugh Harris (Baby Hughy’s owner), Ted Rumley (county executive), and Don Townsend (county clerk, CFO, county executive-elect). None of the accounts of what went down fully corroborate with another.

Starting with Harris, he wrote, “We absolutely loved our customers in Trenton and will come back from time to time with our food truck and pizza oven. However, to build a building at a cost of over $1 million would be cost prohibitive.

“We were told by Ted Rumley at the first meeting that there wouldn’t be a problem obtaining a beer and wine license at the location by the ball fields. That has now been retracted, and we were told that there wasn’t a variance available to us, but we could fill out an application if we wanted, but it’d be a waste of time since the decision was already made.

“I don’t agree with the ordinance, but it’s not my place; they said no, so I’ll have to say no. We wanted to be in Trenton and spent a lot of money to be here. I hate to see it come to this, but we have other places to go where the county officials want us to be. The customers really loved the food, and we loved them, but I don’t think we were in the right clique to make it work.”

The Sentinel asked two follow-up questions: Why not serve food without serving alcohol? We’ve heard some talk about the food truck’s revenue dropping drastically; did that play into the overall decision?

Harris responded, “Revenue dropped a little because people want a sit-down restaurant which is what they were told we would be. We were doing just fine from a food trailer aspect, but trying to build a $1 million+ building and servicing that debt would be very difficult when people can go up the street and get what they want. We could do okay out of a trailer, but that wasn’t the goal.”

In a short phone conversation, Rumley did not acknowledge any conversation with Harris about beer and wine licenses and said he didn’t know why the food truck closed.

Rumley noted that Baby Hughy’s did not apply for a beer and wine license, but per county and state ordinances, alcohol could not be served at that location. He added that the health department had worked with Baby Hughy’s when the food truck was first set up and in regard to water/sewer for the planned building. Rumley was not aware of any issues as far as the health department was concerned.

Then, on KWN’s Sept. 12 county segment, Rumley referenced the Baby Hughy’s situation and the alcohol ordinances. Seemingly out of the blue, he added that a 5,000 square foot meat and three restaurant that serves breakfast will be coming to that location. He said, “Between now and next year, I feel 99.9%, there will be a restaurant built…That’s kinda been, that will happen.”

The Sentinel contacted Rumley again to ask for further details about this restaurant and how he knows about these plans but did not hear back by press time.

Both state and local ordinances prohibit alcohol sales at the restaurant’s selected location due to the proximity of Southeast Lineman Training Center (a college) and Head Start (a school). Although the Head Start building is not near the Baby Hughy’s location, it is on the property of the Dade County Sports Complex which is directly adjacent to Baby Hughy’s selected location.

The relevant Dade County’s ordinance can be found in Chapter 6, Section 6-9, under “distance and location requirements.” It reads: “No license shall be issued for the sale of wine or malt beverages for on-premises consumption in or within one hundred (100) yards of any church building or within two hundred (200) yards of any school building, educational building, school grounds, or college campus.”

The ordinance explains that distance is measured “a. In a straight line from the front door of the structure from which alcoholic beverages are sold or offered for sale. b. To the nearest property line of the real property being used for church, school, educational purposes, or interstate exit or entrance ramp.”

The relevant portion of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A.) is Section 3-3-21 which reads: “No person knowingly and intentionally may sell or offer to sell:…Any wine or malt beverages within 100 yards of any school building, school grounds, or college campus.”

A meeting with Townsend revealed that Baby Hughy’s was aware of these ordinances prior to bringing the food truck to Dade County. He said friends and acquaintances started calling him Monday night about the situation, at which point he was unaware of what had happened.

Towsend said, “First, I thought maybe it was GDOT. Anytime you build anything on Highway 11, you might have a problem with a deceleration/acceleration lane. Then I thought, maybe it’s a health department issue, not necessarily septic but food services. I was trying to figure it out. Baby Hughy’s didn’t come out and say what the issue was.”

Townsend explained, “The only other thing I could think of is alcohol must be involved, so I spoke with the clerk of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Come to find out, Mr. Harris did inquire about beer licensing, but to my knowledge, he’s never requested an application and did know originally that the county ordinance existed, and furthermore, that the state law exists.”

Townsend explained to the Sentinel that a number of phone conversations between Baby Hughy’s representatives and the ABC Board had taken place before the food truck came to Dade County and while it was here. The ABC Board explained the ordinances to Baby Hughy’s but also noted that the restaurant could submit an application anyway, if they desired.

Noting that he was a big fan of Baby Hughy’s food and frequented the food truck, Towsend concluded, “I am all for maintaining our current small business, growing new small businesses, and expanding restaurants as much as we possibly can, but rules and regulations are in place. That’s not to say that a local ordinance cannot be changed in the future. State laws can even be changed, but most people are not willing to budge on school buildings and alcohol.”