DAWSONVILLE — With spring festival season quickly approaching, you may be looking forward to picking up some boiled peanuts from a roadside vendor. In Dawsonville, you’ve got plenty of options, so many in fact that the City Council is worried it is out of control.

“You can’t have one on every corner,” Dawsonville Councilman James Grogan said.

“It does not look professional in the city. We don’t want it to turn into a flea market on the square each weekend.”

During a work session today, officials will discuss cracking down on peanut peddlers and other roadside vendors in the city limits.
One of the issues, according to Mayor Joe Lane Cox, is they’re “not just selling peanuts anymore.”

“Now, they’re selling turnip greens, sorghum syrup, jelly and honey,” he said. “They bring a little more every time they come here.”

Some downtown vendors, however, stick strictly to boiled peanuts.

Tony Blackmon and his brother have been selling boiled peanuts in Dawsonville for about two years.

Blackmon, who lives in Dawson County, had not heard anything about the city’s plans until this week, but said he had a business license and an agreement with the property owner.

Grogan said officials will also look at “limiting the number of people that are (setting up stands).”

Cox said discussion of the matter stemmed from complaints.

“These guys were doing a good job when they first come in to the city, but we’ll have to talk about where they stand now,” Cox said.