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News & ArtsFriday, March 4, 2011
City / Chow Seattle: One Taco Closer to Becoming a Real City
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 7:00 AM
It's hard to talk about street food without referencing Portland, where pedestrians can easily eat every meal—breakfast, lunch, dinner, second dinner, drunk snack, Thanksgiving—on the street, with their fingers, if they so desire. We simply don't have those kinds of options in Seattle, mostly because of a few poorly written, decades old laws that govern street food—laws that require sidewalk vendors to get written permission from the businesses they vend in front of, and basically limit their wares to popcorn, hot dogs, and coffee (really). But those rules are about to change.
- James Callan via Flickr
- More please.
If passed, the new rules would allow up to two sidewalk cart vendors per city block face (or eight per block), and empower the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to create curbside food zones where food trucks could park and sell.
"Currently it’s not legal for a food trucks to vend from any roadway in the city—only on private property," explains Johnson. But under the proposed changes, a food truck could pull up and vend curbside to pedestrians. In areas where more than one vendor applies for a space—blocks along the busy Pike/Pine corridor, for instance—SDOT would award permits through a lottery drawing. The new rules would also eliminate the written permission mandate and set up a vendor notification system instead (essentially taking the power to deny vendors the right to sell away from businesses).
The DPD also partnered with the health department to tweak what food could be sold on the streets. "Health code regulations currently limit food carts to selling popcorn, hot dogs, and coffee," says Johnson. "But the health department is now proposing a broader law that would basically only prohibit the preparation of raw proteins on a cart." Which means a vendor could cook hamburgers in a kitchen and then quickly grill them to order from a food cart. "Basically, the onus would be on the vendor to convince the health department that whatever they intend to sell could be done safely from a cart—which means you could sell almost anything," Johnson says.
But the permits would be slightly different for sidewalk (cart) and curbside (truck) vendors. Sidewalk vendors would most likely be issued a one-year permit without restrictions. Truck vendors, who would be vying for zoned areas throughout the city, would most likely be issued permits to vend in four-hour blocks, says Angela Steel, a spokeswoman for SDOT.
Restaurant owners are already squawking about the increased competition vendors will bring. "We've heard some concerns," admits Johnson, who says the DPD has tried to address concerns by requiring sidewalk vendors to stay 50 feet from any business that sells food (restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, etc.). "But from our point of view, it's not an either/or argument. Street foods and restaurants can thrive together." Active sidewalks are a sign of a robust city and drawing more pedestrians to commercial areas is bound to boost all neighborhood businesses.
"The changes are incredibly exciting," says council member Sally Clark, who will be reviewing the legislation as chair of the council's built environment committee. "I don't want to jinx things but I think we'll have this passed by summer."
2
Because they're not permanently parked? The Molly Moon truck has no such protections.
7
Some people know what their doing in a kitchen. My Brothers Pizza in Wallingford (now Wallingford Pizza House) is a prime example of how filthy a kitchen could be. If they ever had a food truck, I would report them on principle.
9
Here is a link to me bitching about it on Qland from LAST YEAR. At least the legislation has been drafted now.
13
1. What keeps a company from monopolizing the carts or vehicles? Multiple submittals to stack the deck?
2. The licensing fees should be equal to the real estate taxes, other taxes applied to the existing eating establishments and estimated overhead costs. Those establishments have paid dearly to the county and city in order to exist.
3. The current eating establishments put people to work. If those eating establishments are not able to sustain their clientele then will the roach coaches put those people to work?
4. Who keeps track of the tips paid to the roach coach so Uncle Sam can get his?
5. If the eating establishment can show the city that there is a drop in clientele and sales in their establishments, will the city require the roach coach to reimburse the establishment for their loss, or will the city subsidize the establishment?
6. How will the city monitor where each roach coach is at any particular time of day? If there is an open season on all sales locations, there will be a mad rush to hot spots.
7. If the vehicles are able to set up shop anywhere, then the license fee basis should be equal to the highest fee basis (real estate or otherwise) where the roach coaches will be doing business. This would be reasonable due to the overhead that current businesses must maintain. The people who currently have the businesses (or their predecessors) were required to give up part of their land in order to provide sidewalks and streets to the city. The people of Seattle now own the sidewalks and if those sidewalks are going to be used for profit as a platform for sales then the people of Seattle and King County are due the taxes which would have been paid by the original owners of the property. These taxes or fees would probably be at a premium because they are adjacent to busy locations and people will not need to walk into or through a door to have access to the eating establishment. There is a difference in location. If you have a business in a closet at the back of an alley you would expect to pay less rent than if you have a store front. The roach Coach is actually taking the place of existing store fronts.
8. Since most food distribution is based on certain hours (ie breakfast, lunch, after work and dinner) the fee basis should not be on Square foot coverage of the roach coach but on the adjacent establishment costs. Many times I have walked into eating establishments during the “Non-rush hours” and they were empty. If the City of Seattle is going to now cater to persons or businesses that do not need to make the huge investment to do business in Seattle as do established businesses in this down economy, and only be required to pay short term (4 hours at a time) then it is only fair that those persons or establishments be required to support the city in employment and fees that are being displaced. Please remember that Real Estate taxes are a 24 hour / day cost not a 4 hour/day cost, and employment of waiter and waitresses is also an important part of Seattle’s Culture.
9. The licensing should also include specific liability insurance requirements, potentially millions of dollars due to the number of persons they could injure with one bad batch.
10. Lastly, the Mayor and City Council have declared war on parking spaces in Seattle. I would anticipate the new roach coaches to not take up any other parking spaces currently used for deliveries or private vehicle parking. It is hard enough for established businesses to make deliveries to their businesses or have workers make repairs. The Roach coaches can have its repairs done in the sticks. Established businesses must have workers park their vehicles near the businesses so they can make repairs on elevators, Electrical systems, Plumbing etc.
They pay rent each month to use the space and it works wonderfully. I doubt restaurants nearby are much effected.
ThinkAboutIt - to your job point, isn't it better to have a restaurant hire one fewer staff member and have the city gain one more small business owner? Opening a restaurant is very risky, opening a food truck is doable for many more people.
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