Food Truck Committee

Food Truck Committee Meeting, Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm, Conference Room 12, City Hall 11/6/2019 Wednesday, November 6, 2019 Food Truck Committee Meeting, Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 5:30 pm, Conference Room 12, City Hall, 149 Church St., Burlington Generated by Sidney Durmick on Thursday, November 7 Approved on November 20th Members Present Chip Mason, Sandi Pasagic, Alex Bunton, Debra Miller, Chiuho Sampson, Jeff Nick, Kara Alnasrawi, Will Clavelle, Chris Haessly Staff Present Adam Roof, Lori Olberg, Christine Dunbar, Sidney Durmick Chair C Mason called meeting to order at 5:36 pm 1. Adopt the Agenda 1.01 Action: Adopt/Amend the Agenda Motion to Adopt the Agenda Motion by J Nick, second by W Clavelle Final Resolution: Motion passes unanimously 2. Public Forum No members of the public were present. Committee members instead used this time to introduce themselves. 3. Review Duties of the Food Truck Committee Page 1 of 4  Food Truck Committee Meeting, Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm, Conference Room 12, City Hall 11/6/2019 3.01 Discussion: Review Resolution 5.15 relating to updating and improving city policies related to food trucks and street-side vending, determine additional hearings and input - C Mason explained that the purpose of the Food Truck Committee is to undertake a review of the Central Peddling District. He suggested that the group walks through the Central Peddling District in a follow-up meeting in order to pinpoint the current 12 locations which food trucks and carts are permitted. - C Mason asked if committee members knew of any information or data recently collected on food truck regulation best practices. C Dunbar noted that there is a current Food Truck Safety fact sheet from the Fire Department. J Nick brought up a memo sent from the Marketplace Commission to the City Council work session outlining the Marketplace Commission's concerns about food trucks. C Mason noted that this memo will be added to the agenda packet for next meeting - Committee members discussed the boundaries of the Central Peddling District, and the designated locations of the 12 allowed spots for food carts and trucks (only spots 6 & 7 allow for food trucks). C Dunbar explained that the Central District permit allows businesses to pedal from 7 am to 7 pm unless otherwise approved by the licensing committee; there is 1 current peddler who came in front of the Licensing Committee to receive evening hours. - C Mason asked if peddlers are allowed to operate on the waterfront park. C Dunbar responded that anyone who wants to operate at the Waterfront still needs a general peddler license through her, and in addition need special permissions from the Burlington Parks and Recreation Department. - C Mason asked how the peddler licenses are allotted and if they are transferable. C Dunbar responded that they are distributed on a first-come-first-served basis, and as long as the peddler continues to pay the fee ($300 per year or $60 per month) and renew their license on time, they will continue to hold the spot; in the circumstance that no spots are available, a waiting list would be used to fairly distribute them when a spot does open up. C Dunbar also noted that there is not currently a waiting list for the Central Peddling District because food trucks are not allowed in 10 out of 12 of those spots, and most of those interested would like to fill spots with food trucks as opposed to carts or tables, meaning that not a lot of people want them as they exist. - C Mason asked if the committee members knew if the spots are year-round or seasonal. C Dunbar responded that roughly 4 out of 12 of the spots are currently licensed year-round (the rest are vacant) - J Nick asked if C Dunbar has a sense of the demand for food trucks in the Central Peddling District. C Dunbar responded that she often has people coming into the office who would like to fill those spots, but she cannot license them because the ordinance as currently written does not allow for food trucks in 10 out of 12 of the spots - D Miller indicated that she had heard that there are ample places for food trucks around town outside of the Central Peddling District. S Pasagic added that food trucks are intended for areas that do not have many food options (e.g. industrial parks) - C Dunbar reiterated that there is a lot of demand for food truck spots downtown, because food truck owners want to be where all the foot traffic is - C Haessly asked if there have been any provisions made for food trucks to be held within City Hall Park. No one was aware of any such provisions. - C Mason remarked that the specific objectives of the committee are still unclear; if one is to attract carts to Church St., the City is failing since most of the spots are vacant. He clarified that the overall objective is to determine food truck regulations within the boundaries of the Central Peddler District Page 2 of 4  Food Truck Committee Meeting, Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm, Conference Room 12, City Hall 11/6/2019 - D Miller asked about food truck regulations outside of the Central Peddling District. C Dunbar responded that to operate outside of the Central Peddling District, food trucks would need a General Peddling License, which is separate from the Central Peddling District license. Typically, the general license allows more freedom for peddlers in terms of locations from which they are permitted to operate. - C Mason tasked the meeting staffer to research best practices in municipalities of similar size and demographic - K Alnasrawi expressed concern over food truck trash management and suggested this be a topic which is considered by the Committee. D Miller added that access to public bathrooms is also an issue, since there is currently a lack of public bathrooms downtown. C Dunbar pointed out that the conditions of the Peddler License already contains a clause requiring food trucks to provide their own waste receptacle and to clean up their area. - C Mason asked where the conditions of the peddlers licenses came from. C Dunbar responded that they were either pulled directly from the Ordinance or were established over the years through C/T staff and the License Committee - D Miller expressed other concerns over the noise, emissions, and size of operating food trucks (e.g. blocking traffic and sign visibility) - C Mason summarized the concerns which the Committee will be further discussing at future meetings: trash, restrooms, noise hours of operation, visibility, size, emissions, fee structure, impact on residents, etc. - A Bunton observed that the fact that there are only 2 food truck spaces available is a problem, as well as the fact that the other cart spaces are not taken. He suggested that the Committee determine which locations would meet all of their criteria through a process of elimination - eliminating spaces which the Committee deems inappropriate for food truck use. C Mason responded that this could be done via a walkthrough of the Central Peddler District, which will be scheduled during the next Food Truck Committee meeting - S Pasagic suggested the Committee designate a limited number of spots rather than specifying spots, considering each application on a case-by-case basis instead of predetermining specific sites for food trucks. C Mason responded that this is something which staff can look into as best practices under other jurisdictions. C Dunbar noted that there is already a clause within the Ordinance which states that any applicant may propose a spot in front of the License Committee, though this method poses problems because it offers no guidance or support to applicants. - J Nick asked if food trucks have to feed the meters in metered parking spaces. C Dunbar responded that they do, and can either feed the meter or go to the Department of Public Works (DPW) and buy a meter bag. S Pasagic noted that a meter bag is $15 for 12 hours. - S Pasagic noted that Marketplace spots sell - he bought his business spot for $60,000 and the neighboring business spot is selling for $75,000. C Mason asked why there is a distinction between a spot on Church Street and a general Peddler spot. C Dunbar remarked that she does not license any Church Street vendors, and that the Central Peddling District licenses are non-transferrable. S Pasagic observed that the Church Street Marketplace has a different licensing process than the Central Peddling District with its own regulations and restrictions. C Mason wondered why the City has 2 government licenses (Church Street Marketplace & Central Peddling District): one of which is assignable and one of which is not. J Nick explained that Church Street Marketplace spots are theoretically non-transferrable, but if the operator chooses to sell and finds a buyer, the Church Street Marketplace can allow the transfer if they deem the buyer's business appropriate for the location. L Olberg asked how much money applicants are paying for Church Street licenses. J Nick responded that it ranges somewhere from $1200 to about $2700 depending on the block - C Mason stated that Committee will be responsible for updating the map illustrating designated peddling locations in the Central Peddling District, and delivering a report with recommendations to City Council. He asked Committee members to Page 3 of 4  Food Truck Committee Meeting, Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm, Conference Room 12, City Hall 11/6/2019 read through the Ordinance before the next meeting, which is scheduled for Wednesday, November 20th at 4:30 pm in front of City Hall. - W Clavelle commented that the carts offer an affordable option to business startups, and is concerned that food trucks could take away too much business from the carts. D Miller commented that food trucks also directly compete with restaurants. S Pasagic added that food trucks have a much larger capacity for menu items than carts do - C Haessly asked if C Dunbar could quantify approximately how many food truck applicants she has had to turn away in the last year in order to assess the interest. C Dunbar responded that she has had to turn away approximately 20 people, adding that many of the people that are turned away don't even go through the process because it is a lost cause. C Haessly asked if the Committee could collect contact information of past interested applicants. C Dunbar replied that she could pull vendors who had shown interest in being downtown, but has settled for the General Peddler License. C Haessly noted that he would like to hear the perspective of someone who has gone through the process. C Mason noted that staff could reach out to have someone whose gone through the process speak at a future meeting - D Miller asked why they couldn't add more food truck spots at UVM to ameliorate food truck interest. C Dunbar responded that the food trucks allowed at UVM are part of a special agreement between the City and the University, and it would be very difficult to change the terms and agreement. C Mason remarked that this would also bring up the same argument as adding food trucks to the downtown core, which is that the existing businesses would be opposed to new competition that affects their bottom line. - C Sampson asked if the Committee could have information on what Church Street Marketplace requires from peddlers. C Mason responded that this would be possible and that staff would collect the data, but remarked that Church Street is its own authority to which this Committee does not have any governance over. 4.01 Committee Member Items No Committee Member Items 5.01 Adjournment Motion to Adjourn Motion by S Pasagic, second by W Clavelle Final Resolution: Motion passes unanimously Page 4 of 4