Committee Will Vote Against Food Truck Rules

D.C. Council member Vincent Orange said Thursday his committee will kill proposed regulations on food trucks and seek a compromise over space issues, News4's Tom Sherwood reported.

Every member on the Committee on Business, Consumer and Regulatory Affairs plans to vote against the measure when it comes to a vote Friday morning, both Orange and Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham told Sherwood.

Orange, the committee chairman, said members will try to rework some of the more onerous aspects of the proposed regulations.

They'll try to remove the requirement that there be 10 feet of sidewalk in front of food trucks while vending, Orange said.

Committee members may also change the way a proposed lottery over parking spaces is conducted.

Those on both sides of the issue feel so strongly about the regulations that a recent public hearing lasted more than seven hours.

Many food truck supporters showed up at the May 10 hearing donning red T-shirts bearing the message "Save D.C. food trucks."

The rules proposed by the Council would have required them to particpate in a monthly lottery for 180 parking spots in 20 zones. Some truck owners said getting locked into a single spot for an entire day would hurt business.

"We have about four or five spots a day," said D.C. resident Sam Whitfield, who co-owns Curbside Cupcakes with his wife, Kristi. "We come to one spot for half an hour, an hour max; [we] serve our customers [and] we're onto the next."

But restaurant owners said it's not fair that food trucks can operate with little or no regulations. They say food trucks park in their customers' parking spots, and long lines can obstruct their front doors.

"What we seek and what we believe the current proposed regulations provide is a reasonable framework for managing the locations for [food] trucks so that their operations are not unfairly disruptive to other users of public space," said one.

The news Thursday came earlier than expected. The D.C. Council had until June 22 to decide whether to pass or reject the regulations, or take no action at all.