WeHo Defers Talking Food Truck Limits
Posted by Daniel Antolin on Dec 22, 2011 - 5:57:58 PM
West Hollywood City Hall. Photo by Kibiwot Limo.
WEST HOLLYWOOD—On Monday, December 19, the West Hollywood City Council voted unanimously to defer discussing whether to impose parking restrictions individually tailored to gourmet, catering and ice cream trucks to its January 17, 2012 meeting.
WeHo law currently restricts mobile food vendors in general to remain in residential areas for 10 minutes, in commercial zones for two hours, on private property for 30 minutes. They also cannot park near schools, within a block of city parks and 250 feet from similar food vendors.
City staff recommends that this law be changed so that short-term vendors such as ice cream trucks be limited to half an hour on city streets subject to the same proximity rules regarding schools and parks. Long-terms vendors such a gourmet trucks would only be able to set up shop where and when a city permit allows. And catering trucks would operate on private property for up to two hours, though this could be extended if vendors obtain a city permit allowing for the extra period of time.
Councilmember John Heilman made the motion to postpone consideration of the agenda item because the city had received emails from the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Southern California Mobile Food Vendor's Association, both of which wanted to weigh in. Councilmember Abbe Land seconded the motion.
Matt Geller, CEO of the vendor's association, was there but withdrew his name from the speakers lists, deferring to the council's proposal to postpone the overall discussion. Geller was present at a November Santa Monica City Council meeting when an ordinance was first introduced to ban food trucks from two blocks of southern Main Street. It was passed into law later that month.
Kathy Griffin in front of The Grilled Cheese catering truck. Photo courtesy of its Twitter.
Like with the Santa Monica ordinance, WeHo city staff says the need for food truck parking limits stems from their increasing popularity because of social media. Their ability to draw large crowds endangers the public in a dense urban environment such as WeHo, where there is a heavy traffic and pedestrian flow, a staff report states.
One argument is that overcrowded sidewalks could cause people to go into the street or the trucks could cause them to cross in the middle of a block to buy food. The height and size of the trucks could also obstruct the view of drivers. Once parked, they could linger at trucks beyond the allowed meter time and cause other drivers to wander around looking for open spaces.
Geller made the argument in Santa Monica that other popular food vendors have the potential to create the same public safety problems, but he accepted the council's decision because the matter was investigated in a fair manner.
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