6th Street battle: A turf war continues

AUSTIN (AP/KXAN) - A turf war between an iconic bratwurst stand on 6th Street and highly-rated upscale restaurant took to the airwaves on Wednesday as the owners of Parkside and Best Wurst battled it out on KOOP/91.7 FM radio’s “A Neighborly Conversation.”

Parkside wants to ask the city if they can add a sidewalk café, which means the sausage stand would have to go.

Best Wurst 's city permit expired three weeks ago, and after the owner requested to renew, Parkside filed an objection.

"It's really just a disagreement about a public right-of-way between a property owner and a mobile vendor that has the ability to move down the street," said Parkside owner and chef Shawn Cirkiel during the noon radio show.

But Jon Notarthomas, owner of Best Wurst, said he is being pushed off a block where he has done business for more than a decade – by a newcomer who thinks he can just push him off.

“We’ve got a new business on Sixth Street that basically thinks we’re an eyesore and offense to Sixth Street, and we've been stapled to Sixth Street since the early '90s," said Notarthomas."We are just trying to find a reasonable solution. We really hope to co-exist. We know there is no reason why we can't co-exist."

Notarthomas noted that if the fight becomes one of money, he won’t win.

“It has gotten in the hand of lawyers and several parties who are trying to assist and solve this issue,” he said. “I'm not that sort of business guy. I don't have the sort of money the Cirkiels have."

However, Cirkiel holds a different view.

"We've been trying to work with Best Wurst for three years, and they really don't want to work with us or change their answers -- out of my corner -- so what we've been doing is to find another location for them to move so that we can both move on and be successful," said Cirkiel.

Until a solution can be reached, the city is extending the vendor's permit indefinitely.