CITY HALL — The City Council followed through on two ordinances Tuesday night that would regulate food and travel on Santa Monica’s streets.

With no discussion, council members heard and voted on an ordinance restricting the time and place that food trucks could sling their wares on Main Street, as well as a new regulatory system for pedicabs, which are human-powered taxis.

It’s not unusual for second readings to pass with merely an introduction and a roll call vote. Much more abnormal was the fact that the first ordinance, which banned food trucks from a portion of the city on weekends and on major holidays, passed the first time without verbal support or opposition from the public.

The ordinance, which will take effect in less than 30 days, extends a blanket ban on food trucks on Main Street between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. to include the half block between Marine Street and Santa Monica’s southern border with Los Angeles.

It also expands the prohibition to include eight major holidays that might fall on weekdays and were otherwise excluded from the first ordinance.

Those include New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day and Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo was originally omitted from the list, but later replaced Columbus Day.

The City Council banned food trucks between Ocean Park Boulevard and Marine Street on Saturdays and Sundays during those hours in November 2011 on advice from Santa Monica Police Department officials that the trucks caused often-intoxicated bar patrons to swarm on sidewalks, creating a safety hazard.

The trucks are some of the only food-providing businesses open at that hour on Main Street, and people leaving bars after last call would make a pit stop at the trucks, taking up sidewalk space, sitting on curbs and even running out into the street, SMPD Cap. Dan Salerno told the City Council on April 9.

“We’re fearful of a collision,” Salerno said.

People also had a tendency to forget themselves, leaving wrappers and food on the ground for others to slip on or vermin to eat, Salerno said.

After the original ordinance went into effect, safety officials saw an improvement except on holidays that fall on weekdays and are traditionally associated with alcohol consumption.

It also didn’t handle the half block between Marine Street and the border with Venice, which contains four parking spots that became prime real estate for food trucks, according to a report.

The expanded ordinance would fix those problems, Salerno told council members.

Councilmember Terry O’Day originally voted against the ordinance, but chose to vote with his colleagues on Tuesday.

Pedal power

Pedicab regulations, which dominated the April 9 meeting, also passed with nary a whimper.

Santa Monica officials had no way of controlling the human-powered taxis, which, by dint of being a bicycle, were allowed to operate on city streets without any restrictions.

Council members fearful of a “wild west” of the unwieldy vehicles on Santa Monica streets chose to approve what limitations they could, including a ban from the Beach Bike Path.

Pedicabs must also post their fares and have headlights, tail lights, turn signals, brakes, spoke reflectors and each of the passengers must be restrained by seat belts.

Drivers must be at least 18 years old and free of drug, driving under the influence or sex offense convictions. They must also have taken a bicycle safety training course, and have a decent driving history through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Companies will also have to pay for permits to cover administrative costs, which Salvador Valles, business and operations manager with the city’s Finance Department, estimated at $2,950.

Future regulations may be in store if needed, council members warned.

http://smdp.com/food-trucks-limited-pedicabs-allowed/121500

Food trucks patrolling Main Street in the Ocean Park neighborhood will have to be mindful of their time, as the Santa Monica City Council approved at its last Tuesday night meeting an expanded prohibition of late night street vending during certain holidays.

Already prohibited from operating on a small stretch of Main Street between 1 am and 3 am on Saturdays and Sundays, the expanded ordinance now prohibits food trucks from maintaining a presence during those same hours on certain popular holidays.

Specifically, the expanded ordinance – which was approved by Council Members in a 6 to 1 vote – prohibits food trucks from a stretch of Main Street during holidays commonly associated with alcoholic consumption but do not occur on a Saturday or Sunday. Those holidays include Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween, and New Year’s Day in the event any of those days landed on a weekday.

According to City staff, the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD) requested the Council to consider an expanded ordinance due to safety concerns.

“In recent years, commercial vending activities from vehicles, particularly food trucks, have grown exponentially within the City,” a City staff report stated. “The impact of this increase in vending activities has been most acute on Main Street during late night hours, when food trucks operating near alcohol serving establishments attract large crowds of persons.”

The report stated that large crowds created extreme congestion of the narrow sidewalks along Main Street, forced pedestrians onto the road, and posed significant safety hazards to the public.

The council addressed SMPD’s concerns about the safety hazards posed by the crowding at and near food trucks by adopting a “narrow ordinance” in November 2011. That ordinance prohibited food trucks from operating along Main Street between Ocean Park Boulevard and Marine Street between 1 am and 3 am on Saturdays and Sundays.

“As patrons, including intoxicated patrons, depart the alcohol serving establishments, they are attracted to the mobile vendors. This often creates huge crowds of persons, standing or sitting on the sidewalks and socializing while they eat, that spread throughout the streets and sidewalks along Main Street. This causes Main Street sidewalks to be virtually impassable and driveways to be blocked,” City staff stated.

Another concern rose at Tuesday’s council meeting: trash. An SMPD officer who spoke to the council said some food truck patrons fail to dispose of food wrappings in the trash after eating their respective meals.

There was also a concern of whether people eat once purchasing items from food trucks.

“Persons who purchase eatables from such mobile vendors often consume them immediately afterwards. Due to the significant crowds and the narrow sidewalks on Main Street, persons often choose to sit on street curbs or even parking spaces to consume foods,” City staff stated. “Such persons, while sitting, are not easily seen by drivers of vehicles attempting to enter or exit their parking spaces and may be struck by such vehicles.”

According to the SMPD, the previously approved ordinance was an effective tool in protecting public safety along Main Street.

“However, the same safety concerns that precipitated [the ordinance] remain apparent during certain holidays popularly associated with alcohol consumption that may fall on a week day,” the City staff report stated.

With the approval of the expanded ordinance, food trucks are prohibited from operating between 1 am and 3 pm during weekends and proscribed holidays along Main Street from south of Marine Street to the City’s southernmost border where Santa Monica meets Venice.

City staff reported there are 213 food trucks licensed to operate within Santa Monica.

Mayor Pro Tem Terry O’Day was the sole “no” vote.

http://www.smmirror.com/articles/News/New-Restrictions-For-Main-Street-Food-Trucks-In-Santa-Monica/37305

PHOTO BY FABIANLEWKOWICZ.COM
The “Food Truck Bazaar” will be held every Tuesday from 5:30 pm through 9:30 pm at 2612 Main Street in Santa Monica.

The California Heritage Museum launched its “Food Truck Bazaar” on Tuesday, which is set to become a weekly community event on Main Street.

Ten food trucks, each hosting a different type of cuisine, were featured as well as merchants presenting various items such as antique and contemporary jewelry, children’s clothes and toys, yoga and gym clothing, knitted scarves, sculptures from Bali, photographs representing Santa Monica, real estate information on Santa Monica and Venice properties, snow boards, and surf boards.

The event will be held every Tuesday from 5:30 pm through 9:30 pm at 2612 Main Street, on the corner of Main Street and Ocean Park Boulevard, in Santa Monica.

The Victorian Restaurant is open so that guests that purchase from the food trucks can eat their dinner in the outdoor patio, the indoor first floor bar, or the downstairs Basement bar.

There is no charge for using the Victorian’s facilities.

Parking is available within the museum’s lot. Additionally, visitors to the museum event can find parking in adjacent “quarter metered” parking lots.

For additional information, visit www.californiaheritagemuseum.org or contact the California Heritage Museum directly at 310.392.8537 or email Tobi Smith at calmuseum@earthlink.net.

http://www.smmirror.com/articles/News/California-Heritage-Museum-In-Santa-Monica-Launches-Tuesday-Food-Truck-Bazaar/36942

Photo by Parimal M. Rohit
Off-street food truck lots could become more common around Santa Monica.

It has been the year of altering zoning codes to allow food trucks greater range to operate within Santa Monica. Only weeks after the City Council discussed food trucks operating on a lot near Santa Monica Boulevard and 14th Street, Planning Commissioners voted last week to recommended as many as four more other locations primed to house mobile eateries.

The 5-2 vote took place Aug. 22 and merely indicated an overall support of a new policy to allow food trucks to operate weekly on Main Street, Lincoln Boulevard, Pico Boulevard, and Santa Monica Boulevard. It is now up to council members to make the Planning Commission recommendation official city policy.

At the four locations, food trucks would be permitted to operate on a lot instead of parking along the street, similar to the food truck events at the California Heritage Museum or 1401 Santa Monica Boulevard.

Commissioners Jim Ries and Ted Winterer were the two nay votes.

Per the recommendation, food trucks would be allowed to operate weekly from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Main Street. Meanwhile, food trucks seeking to operate once a week on the other approved locations on Lincoln, Pico, or Santa Monica would be permitted to serve food between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.

“In order to keep food truck venues as a re-occurring special event, staff recommends that no food truck venue operate more than three days per week or before 8 a.m. or after 11 p.m., including set-up and clean-up,” City staff said. “The days and hours of operation of individual food truck venues within these limitations shall be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

If ultimately adopted by the council, the zoning amendment would require certain minimum parameters for a food truck park to operate.

“In order to provide sufficient area for parking, pedestrians, restrooms, trash/recycle containers, etc., staff recommends a minimum of 15,000 square foot of open area on the parcel and 1 food truck per 2,000 square feet of open area,” City staff said.

The events must also provide sufficient restroom access and a seating area that is serviceable but not too large, according to a City staff recommendation.

“A maximum 200 square foot seating area may be provided and must be removed prior to closure of the food truck venue for the day,” City staff said, further recommending “the 200 square foot maximum to ensure that the outdoor dining activities do not become a significant gathering area that could generate noise that could disrupt the adjacent neighborhood.”

City staff also pointed out the proposed zoning amendment is consistent with the mission of the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE).

“The LUCE states that Main Street should accommodate a variety of commercial uses that provide daily necessities for those living in the surrounding community, tourists and the greater Santa Monica area and off-street food truck venues provide a variety of inexpensive food options for the entire community,” City staff said.

“In addition, the LUCE states that businesses and activities on Main Street that provide a distinctive experience such as the California Heritage Museum, community gardens and the farmer’s market should be supported and off-street food truck venues on Main Street would be consistent with this policy in that they are themselves a unique experience that increases pedestrian traffic in the area.”

It was that unique experience that some of the commissioners believed were a major reason to allow more food trucks to operate within Santa Monica.

While commissioners acknowledged the vibrancy and sense of community that were associated with food trucks, there were also concerns, such as whether to limit food truck operation in major business districts such as Main Street, where an already saturated marketplace exists brick-and-mortar restaurants competing against each other.

During public comment, there were business representatives who indeed expressed concern of how food trucks may negatively impact the revenues of surrounding brick-and-mortar eateries.

Winterer rose permitting as his chief concern, suggesting the food trucks annually seek permit renewals to allow City Hall to keep a close eye on the weekly events.

Commissioner Chair Gerda Newbold did make a friendly amendment requesting City staff to consider looking into how temporary permits would work.

In the staff report submitted to commissioners prior to the meeting, City Hall pointed out that council members also expressed concern about permitting.

“The City Council directed staff to recommend a permitting mechanism to allow food truck venues on a continuing basis,” City staff said.

McKinnon wanted to explore ways to better integrate each of the food truck events.

http://www.smmirror.com/articles/News/Santa-Monica-Planning-Commissioners-Recommend-Four-Off-Street-Food-Truck-Locations/35364

A food truck at the Bergamot Station Art Center in Santa Monica | Credit Gary Kavanagh

Mixed opinions about food truck lots at most recent Santa Monica Planning Commission meeting. Proposed regulations head to the City Council for approval.

The debate rages on about the impacts food truck lot events have on the community and local brick-and-mortar businesses, but the likelihood they will operate permanently in Santa Monica appears better than ever.

Despite opposition from Main Street merchants and residents, the Planning Commission has recommended to the City Council that it allow up to four weekly events in Santa Monica. For the first time, the lots would operate under new city codes, rather than with temporary permits.

The commission’s proposal is to allow one off-street food truck lot per week from 5–10 p.m. on Main Street and three events from 8 a.m.–11 p.m., on Pico, Santa Monica and Lincoln boulevards.

The proposed rules would also impose space restrictions: lots would have to be at least 15,000 square feet. Additionally, each food truck would need 2,000 square feet and each lot would have to have a maximum of 200 square feet for seating.

City staffers’ position is the food trucks “enhance pedestrian experience” and offer a “variety of inexpensive food options.” At their Wednesday meeting, some commissioners agreed.

“A lot of people come out of their homes and attend these food truck events and make the area more social,” said commissioner Jennifer Kennedy.

Toby Smith, the executive director of the California Heritage Museum, said a weekly event on Main Street, helps keep the museum open. He said proceeds from the Tuesday event—estimated at $104,000 in two years—generate a substantial portion of the museum’s operating revenue.

According to Matt Geller, president of Southern California Mobile Food Vendor Association, in the two years since the food trucks and the Heritage Museum have partnered up, they have raised about $104,000.

“It seems like almost once a week one of our visitors makes a comment about the event,” Santa Monica resident and California Heritage Museum assistant Mike Snow told the commission. “It’s a community event—people like meeting their neighbors, they enjoying bringing their out-of-town visitors.”

But Anthony Schmitt, chairman of Main Street Business Improvement Association, called it a “sad state of affairs” that restaurants are pitted in competition with businesses that don’t pay rent.

Commissioners Ted Winterer and Jim Ries—who voted against the proposal—expressed doubts, too.

“I’m supportive of brick-and-mortar businesses,” said Ries. “I would like to vote against this straight out, but at the same time I hear a number of $104,000 in fundraising done for the museum.”

Winterer was more concerned about the lack of flexibility in passing the amendment. “I can’t support anything that’s going to be on a permanent basis,” he said. Instead, Winterer suggested there be an annual permit, so the city could regularly evaluate the events.

The debate isn’t new. Since they first arrived in Santa Monica two years ago, the food truck events have seen mixed responses from the community.

Currently, the city only issues temporary permits to food trucks that operate on private property. The permits regulate operations, such as lighting, noise and hours.

Coming up with a permanent solution to regulate the lots’ operations has been on the City Council’s agenda since the spring of last year. In November 2011, the council took one step toward that goal by adopting a new ordinance to bar vending on Main Street between Ocean Park Boulevard and Marine Street between 1 and 3 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/love-em-or-hate-em-food-trucks-could-be-here-to-stay#photo-6272612

Santa Monica, CA – Santa Monica’s Planning Commission Wednesday will consider amending the Municipal Code to allow food trucks to park at off-street sites on three of the city’s major arteries.

The proposed change to the code would allow food trucks to gather at designated sites under a Performance Standards Permit (PSP). The recommended change would create venues throughout the City where food trucks could congregate and sell food to passers-by without taking up parking spaces.

“Off-street food truck venues would enhance the pedestrian experience by offering a variety of inexpensive food options to area pedestrians,” City staff wrote.

The move would encourage more events like the weekly gathering of food trucks at the California Heritage Museum parking lot on Main Street on Tuesdays, staff said.

But the permits would come with limitations to provide sufficient area for parking, pedestrians, restrooms and trash containers, staff said.

The designated off-street sites would require “a minimum of 15,000 square foot of open area on the parcel and 1 food truck per 2,000 square feet of open area,” staff wrote.

Under staff’s recommendation,  ”no food truck venue operate more than three days per week or before 8 a.m. or after 11 p.m., including set-up and clean-up.”

There are also recommended provisions against litter.

Not only would Main Street be impacted, but so would Pico, Lincoln and Santa Monica Boulevards.

Though City officials are pushing for a permit to allow off-street food truck vending, last year, the council passed an ordinance to stem late-night vending on Main Street, citing safety concerns.

In November, the Council passed an ordinance that banned food trucks along Main Street from 1 to 3 a.m. on weekends.

The ban came after police and neighbors complained of bar patrons crowding the sidewalk, making noise and generally engaging in risky behavior such as jaywalking.

“The sidewalk becomes unusable,” City Attorney Marsha Moutrie told the council on November 8. “Pedestrians cross in the middle of the street and many of them are intoxicated.”

Since the ban, Santa Monica Police have reported that many of the problems with sidewalk crowding and noise have been mitigated.

Nonetheless, staff maintains that off-street food truck vending helps meet some of the goals outlined in the City’s Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE).

“Main Street should accommodate a variety of commercial uses that provide daily necessities for those living in the surrounding community, tourists and the greater Santa Monica area and off-street food truck venues provide a variety of inexpensive food options for the entire community,” staff wrote.

Staff included Pico, Santa Monica Lincoln Boulevards in their recommendation.

http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2012/August-2012/08_21_2012_Santa_Monica_Planning_Commission_to_Consider_Food_Truck_Permits.html

Back in January of 2010, food bloggers helped make the debut of a “food truck parking lot” at the vacant car dealership lot on 14th and Santa Monica a smashing success. Over 1,000 people showed up, and  many of the trucks actually ran out of food. However the event was illegal for the location under city zoning, and was quickly shut down on their 2nd day. This was back when the food truck scene reaching beyond the traditional market food trucks had always served before in Los Angeles was a new thing, and clearly the pent up demand for new food options exploded.

The city of Santa Monica later worked out an arrangement for a conditional use permit at the California Heritage Museum parking lot on Main Street, where the now recurring Tuesday night food truck event has been attracting a regular following. The 14th & Santa Monica lot however has been empty and languishing ever since, apart from occasional seasonal pumpkin or Christmas tree sales. The lot has been wasted space for the entirety of my living in Santa Monica for the past 6 years.

This Wednesday marked the return of food trucks to the neglected piece of Santa Monica Blvd. real estate, now dubbed as the “Hump Day Lot”, under a new organizer. The response on day one was muted compared to the previous roll out in 2010 as reported in Patch. However promotion for the first day was light, and there is more competition in town now. Unfortunately, I heard about it the day after it occurred and I live a block away. The website for the new lot is posted on a sign at the site, but appears to be currently under construction as of this writing. Hopefully they work out the kinks in getting the word out.

The organizer is committing to this being a weekly thing, with conditional use permit secured, and is hoping for a zoning fix or permitting to eventually make it a permanent location. The schedule is 10am-3pm and dinner 4-9pm each Wednesday. Which is now also perfectly situated for bicycling customers with luxuriously wide bike lanes (by typical US standards anyways) on 14th Street.

My favorite food cart in Portland & the only place I have found vegan crepes. Note the flat tires.

In what were underutilized car lots all over Portland, Oregon are full time lots of food carts and trucks, often referred to by locals as “pods.” The stability and frequency of customers at the full time lots is such that some eateries designed out of trailers have been unhitched. Their owners have not bothered to keep air in their tires. This is in sharp contrast with the constant roaming before every meal searching for a viable space that typifies most Los Angeles area food trucks.

I’ve been excited by  ”food truck urbanism” for some time: the almost instant effect it can have on lifeless corners of a city and how a place becomes animated just by the food trucks coming in and inserting their own local economic relationships. I always felt the original spot was one of the most ideal locations for the concept. Anyone hoping for a resurgence in the auto industry to fill up all the vacant lots and empty dealership space on Santa Monica Blvd, and a come back of tax revenue from car sales, will be sorely disappointed. It’s time to get creative with our land use.

One of the criticisms of the food trucks is the claim that it drives business away from brick and mortar establishments. However there are examples of food truck operators opening their own restaurants, and well established restaurants like Border Grill here in Santa Monica taking their food on the road for tapping into new markets and promoting their core business. Food trucks or carts, or other methods of mobile vending, are an incubation ground from which new ideas can be tested.

At CNU 20 I got a chance to chat with Tommy Pacello about food trucks. Pacello works for the mayor’s office in Memphis Tennessee as part of a grant funded project referred to as the Innovation Delivery Team. He recounted to me the story of one local food truck starting with a breakfast menu that had horrible coffee and mediocre food. It was nothing to write home about. But over time the coffee and food both got better, and business eventually became robust enough to justify securing a loan from a bank to open a full service restaurant.

1401 Santa Monica Blvd. in it’s typical condition

Had the couple operating that truck tried going straight to opening a full restaurant, they may have been unable to get a loan at all. Even if they had, if they started with the mediocre menu they began with, their business may have flopped. With a higher cost overhead it would have made repayment on the loan a real struggle compared to opening with an already refined menu and business plan.

With anything in life, there can be too much. With mobile food vending, there is a need to regulate for the sake of maintaining a fair playing field. However I find it preposterous the extent to which we try to regulate out or throw up numerous hoops to jump through for creative uses of underutilized private land. Especially at a time of persisting high levels of unemployment. I hope the coming zoning update will relax the grip we have over mobile vending and adaptive reuse of underutilized properties in Santa Monica.

Also, can someone in the Los Angeles region please make a full featured taco grill bike (or point me to someone doing it if it here already). We can’t let Portland have better taco grill bike vending than us, and yes I am suggesting this is an arms race.

http://la.streetsblog.org/2012/08/10/food-truck-urbanism-taking-root-at-1401-santa-monica-blvd/

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/08/santa-monica-ca-food-truck-urbanism-taking-root-at-1401-santa-monica-blvd/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2011/06/santa-monica-ca-food-trucks-on-main-street-get-a-reprieve%e2%80%94at-least-for-now/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2011/06/santa-monica-ca-food-trucks-on-main-street-get-a-reprieve%e2%80%94at-least-for-now/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:08:53 +0000 MobileFoodNews.com http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=16786

By Reza Gostar | Patch.com

A food truck at the Bergamot Station Art Center Credit Gary Kavanagh

In a unanimous decision Tuesday night, the Santa Monica City Council voted to extend the Temporary Use Permit for the Heritage Museum Food Vending Event on Main Street until a permitting process for off-street food vendors is formally adopted.

While no decisive action on regulating mobile food vendors was taken, the council decided to look into ways to restrict food trucks from parking in certain areas on-street in the future.

“I would rather have [Santa Monica families] at food trucks rather than McDonald’s or Taco Bell,” Mayor Pro Tem Gleam Davis told the council. “You go to McDonald’s and there is no communal experience … I think food trucks present an affordable option for people.”

Not everyone had positive feedback about the Main St. event. A survey of businesses around the area found that half of them reported a decline in business during the Tuesday event, Housing and Economic Development Director Andy Agle said. Brick-and-mortar restaurants in the area reported an unfair playing field in light of the mobile food vendors, he said.

Despite the survey results and concerns from local restaurants, the council was mostly supportive of the off-street food truck event held on Main St.

“I do think the experiment at the Heritage Museum has been successful,” Mayor Richard Bloom told the council. “My major concern and [the main source of] complaints is in the most congested area of the city, and that is in downtown. … We need to focus some energy there and get creative.”

In its effort to regulate on-street food trucks, the city plans to evaluate whether to draft a proposal to the state Legislature to amend the California Vehicle Code. The proposed change could grant local governments, including the city of Santa Monica, greater regulatory power over on-street mobile food vendors.

At present, food trucks operate under both state and local ordinances. However, the California Vehicle Code limits the power of local governments to “regulate mobile food or non-food vendors on public streets,” according to a staff report.

Currently, a city’s power is limited to creating no parking zones, reducing parking space and restricting the parking time of any vehicle, including food trucks.

During Tuesday’s special council meeting, SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association CEO Matthew Geller offered his association’s services while the city continues evaluating how to regulate food trucks.

“We opened a food truck lot on January 5, 2010, and we were shut down [the next day], but the city of Santa Monica saw how important it was to the community,” Geller told Santa Monica Patch.

“We were put on the next agenda meeting. … We had a food truck lot within nine months of that initial meeting on a temporary use permit, and here we are 18 months later. We’ve had a successful lot and a great community event that [the city is] excited about, and they’re keeping it going,” Geller said. “Interacting with Santa Monica has been one of the highlights of the association’s dealings with cities.”

Santa Monica Deputy Police Chief Al Venegas, whose major concern is crowds gathering around trucks when bars close, was also pleased with the council’s desire to further regulate on-street food trucks.

“One of the city’s main goals is traffic safety … and pedestrian safety trying to cross the street to frequent these trucks,” Venegas told Santa Monica Patch. “The main concern is the popularity with trucks and the crowds that gather around them late on Friday and Saturday nights. … It’s not only the complaints of noise and congregations of large amounts people around them, but it’s also the fights and the assaultive types of behavior.”

Venegas said the easiest solution may be regulating food trucks so that they would be open during more reasonable business hours.

“[Food trucks are] taking advantage of these bars letting everyone out,” Venegas told Patch. “And it’s business, I understand that. I just want to make it safer for everybody, that’s all. … [The council's desire to increase regulation is] a good first step in trying to find a happy medium.”

http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/food-trucks-on-main-street-get-a-reprieveat-least-for-now#photo-6272612

The food trucks at Santa Monica's Tuesday night lot operate from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday nights at the Heritage Museum parking lot located at 2612 Main Street. Photo by Stephanie Salvatore

Santa Monica’s city council has a full plate at its upcoming June 21 meeting, perhaps the largest portion of which deals with the future of food truck regulation in the city.

For more than half of a year the office of Santa Monica’s housing and economic development has studied the popular Tuesday night food truck lot on Main Street where vendors have operated using temporary permits. Based on this study, staff members have recommended that Santa Monica create some sort of permanent permitting mechanism for food trucks to operate.

Food trucks have had a storied history along Los Angeles’ Westside. Some consider the epicenter of the Los Angeles food truck phenomenon to have radiated along Abbot Kinney, where the mobile cuisine vendors gathered to pack the streets on the first Fridays of every month. But those trucks operated along the boulevard, which is a public street, whereas the Tuesday night food truck lot in Santa Monica is on private property.

Regulating public street code is a matter of state law. Any change of which would have to affect food trucks and commuter vehicles alike, leaving local municipalities only minor specific enforcement flexibility – mostly related to public safety issues. Perhaps the strongest regulatory ammunition requires all stopped mobile food facilities conducting business for more than one hour to operate within 200 feet of an approved, readily available and fully functioning restroom facility.  If the restroom is within a business, a food truck operator must have written permission from the business owner for use.

Beyond this regulation, Santa Monica staff suggest the possibility of shrinking parking space sizes, restricting hours, and even lobbying the state government to change laws to allow municipalities more freedom to regulate food (and other vending) truck operations on public streets.

“Businesses in Santa Monica have complained that these trucks block visibility to their stores and create unfair competition,” states the City’s report prepared by housing and economic development.  The staff report also suggests the possibility of designating special food truck vending spaces along streets, but notes that it would not prohibit trucks from parking elsewhere.

But when food trucks operate on private property, where they can band together to attract customers by offering more selection, Santa Monica and other cities have much more control to regulate through zoning restrictions.

“We believe that allowing (food trucks) on properly located private property, subject to regulations that are in the public interest, is a very good idea,” Howard Krom told the city council on Jan. 19, 2010. Krom was speaking as an attorney for Steve Taub, who was the owner of the private lot on Santa Monica Boulevard and 14th Street. Taub’s property was not only the first location of a food truck lot in the city, it was also the first to be shut down – after only one day.

“We believe it would allow for more regulated, and better regulated food service from food trucks than presently exists on the city’s streets, where trucks operate without City oversight, ” Krom said, referring to the argument that lots keep food trucks from parking in front of restaurants.

In September 2010, a maximum of 10 trucks were given temporary permission from the City of Santa Monica to gather each Tuesday evening in the parking lot behind the California Heritage Museum and the Victorian on the corner of Ocean Park Boulevard and Main Street, where the Sunday morning farmers’ market also takes place. Food-vending trucks regularly operate in a number of other off-street locations throughout the City, including Santa Monica Business Park and Bergamot Station. The City also granted a temporary-use permit for a weekly food truck event at 14th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard lot, but that permit has not been executed.

During this trial period, City officials have watched for possible adverse impacts on the surrounding neighborhood such as noise, litter and traffic, while at the same time trying to draft proper zoning that would allow for food trucks to operate in a safe and regulated manner in the city.

“Most people seem to feel the Tuesday test at the Heritage has been a huge success, and I’m already hearing from other locations where a regular food truck event could be a helpful fundraiser for institutions in distress,” City Council member Kevin McKeown told the Mirror in an e-mail. “We’ll need to balance food, fun, and fundraising against neighborhood impacts and whether more food trucks will hurt existing restaurants, but so far the excitement is positive and the complaints have been scarce.”

The Southern California Mobile Food Vendors Association, whose more than 100 members rotate at the Tuesday Main Street lot, also sprang from the ashes of the first failed food truck lot on Santa Monica Boulevard. Vendors lease the lot from the California Heritage Museum, the proceeds of which have kept that entity from financial hardship. In exchange for exclusive use of the lot, association member trucks agree not to park along Main Street, avoiding direct competition for customers with established restaurants…

“… which is what we prefer,” said Tobi Smith, director of the Heritage Museum. “We are part of Main Street, and we want to be a good neighbor.”

Smith not only sees the food lot as a fundraiser for her museum, but she and other proponents also argue that the influx of the Tuesday crowd trickles over into other Main Street businesses. The City’s survey found that although the Heritage Museum food truck event is what brought responders to the area on Tuesday nights, food truck customers do visit other Main Street businesses before or after eating at the food trucks and they return to patronize them on other nights.
But not everyone agrees with this finding.

“Tuesday nights are dead,” said Ron “Captain Ron” Shur, owner of the Galley on Main Street, considered Santa Monica’s oldest restaurant. Shur said that since the food truck lot opened, parking lots west of Main Street have been too full, and business has suffered. He said his servers are now avoiding working the Tuesday shift.

Shur is not alone in his disdain of the Main Street Tuesday night food truck experiment. The City’s report notes that 40 percent of the 25 businesses surveyed did not want the Tuesday night food truck event to continue.  Of the restaurants surveyed, 63 percent did not want the event to continue and 50 percent indicated that they noticed a decrease in business on Tuesday nights since the food truck event began.

“Unfortunately, the financial impact on storefront businesses cannot be ascertained through sales tax information as that data is available only on a monthly basis,” notes the City’s report.

“We’re all hoping that something works for all of us,” said Steven Trager, owner of Wildflour Pizza on Main Street, which shares the customer demographic of the food trucks. Of the patrons surveyed by the City, 67 percent were under the age of 40, and 33 percent were between the ages of 21 and 30. According to the City’s report, food truck customers indicated they spend $20 or less during each visit. This price point competes with many of the Main Street restaurants as 13 of the 16 restaurants surveyed reported that their average meal rate was under $20.

Trager said Wildflour Pizza’s Tuesday night business has been more or less the same since the lot opened. When the Main Street lot was proposed to him and other owners, the idea was that it would increase business, which Trager said he hasn’t seen. “The key for this thing continuing is those people need to continue down to other businesses,” said Trager. “If that doesn’t happen, I can see this not continuing.”

The City’s trial period for temporary permitting of food trucks was conducted during a time of year marked with cooler and sometimes wet weather. One thing both Trager and Smith from the museum could agree on was a hopeful outlook that if the summer brings warm weather, the food truck lot could deliver customers to Main Street.
Smith said that better weather and expanded permitting could bring more trucks, longer operating hours, and even the addition of other days in the week in which to operate trucks, although she seemed hesitant to expand too much.

“I don’t think you could do this every night,” said Matt Geller, a Venice native and vice president of the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association. When asked about other lots, Geller said the Main Street lot is a hard-to-repeat perfect storm, with the patio of the Victorian, its bar, sanitary facilities, bike valet, the lawn of the museum, and the location all combine to make for a self-contained community gathering.

Should the council approve city-wide conditional permitting, Geller predicts other lots would blossom, but would be more private than Main Street’s Tuesday gathering. Instead, he expects to see smaller lots with just a couple trucks coming to service businesses during working hours.

More than 150 food-vending trucks are currently licensed in Santa Monica.  To operate, mobile food trucks pay $50 for a business license, $25 for a police permit, $107.16 for fingerprinting, and $25.83 for fingerprinting processing, for a total of $207.99 for a new permit or $100.83 for renewals.  Mobile food operators must also pay for a Los Angeles County Public Health Permit, a monthly charge for a parking space at a commissary (where health regulations require that a food vehicle be stored, cleaned, and serviced every day), the capital costs of a kitchen-equipped vehicle, which can range from $30,000 for a used vehicle to more than $100,000 for a new one, and maintenance costs.  Mobile food truck operators are responsible for paying sales tax on the revenue they generate in each municipality where they operate.

“I do expect the Tuesday night market to continue, but other days and places are uncertain,” Mayor Richard Bloom told the Mirror. “Each needs to be considered on their own merits, using criteria.”

In considering zoning regulations on private property, the City could specify location restrictions, number of trucks and patron capacity, signage restrictions, noise impact, parking availability, mandate a bike valet and other amenities including lighting, security, restrooms, and regulate frequency of the event. And, along with requiring permit and other fees, the City could even ask venders to provide community benefits, such as support of a local non-profit organization.
While the council contemplates regulation for food trucks – operating along the streets or on private property – the staff report recommends extending the Tuesday Main Street lot’s temporary-use permit until overall decisions are made.

The food trucks operate from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday nights at the Heritage Museum parking lot located at 2612 Main Street. The Santa Monica City Council’s meeting on June 21 will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall chambers at 1685 Main Street.

http://www.smmirror.com/?ajax#mode=single&view=32377

Food truck at a SMMOA event at the Bergamot Station art center. Credit Gary Kavanagh

Food trucks, which have always been around in the L.A. area, have blown up in a big way recently. Something I’m sure anyone not living under a rock has become aware of by now. There are more high end options, and they are targeting new areas and demographics with unique food combinations. The long lines and cut throat competition implies many people like the new trucks, but they can also stir up some controversy when competing with business from brick and mortar restaurants. I believe there is something deeper going on here that will far outlive other recent food crazes, with implications concerning the successes and failings of zoning rules and other city policies.

So what does this have to do with sustainability? It may seem counter-intuitive that a gas burning food truck roving around may help any sort of environmental goals, but when they attract local diners who might otherwise drive elsewhere, I believe they can. The food truck hotspots, the places where many trucks concentrate and park regularly, are also quite revealing in highlighting where deficiencies in the zoning and development of the past have created dead zones that were waiting to spring to life with the right activity.

I’ve been watching this food truck revolution take shape first hand every weekend on the small one way street behind my workplace, Pennsylvania Ave. between 26th and Stewart in Santa Monica. Food trucks roll in early to get a space and at lunch the street teems with people coming out of the surrounding creative studio, campus and office spaces to get a bite to eat. What’s been amazing to me in watching all this, is that it was really not all that long ago that the street was almost completely devoid of human activity. You’d see one or two people walking through landscaping on their way to places to eat buried deep inside the Water Gardens or to the further away Bergamot cafe. Usually people would be walking through the office complex landscaping on Pennsylvania, since there are no sidewalks. The street was clearly designed for limited parking lot access for cars and nothing else.

Formally drivers would speed down the short corridor, but things have calmed as pedestrians and drivers mix on more equal footing, with drivers forced to slow down and pay attention. If it weren’t for the palm trees, you might even mistake peak lunch hour for a street scene in a European city where people freely walk in the middle of some slower streets.

So if there is such a huge pent up market demand for more lunch options in that little heavily business office oriented slice of Santa Monica adjacent the Water Gardens Complex, why haven’t more restaurants opened in the area? Understanding why food trucks are so successful, and where they are successful, can reveal clues about what it would take to allow more permanent restaurants to succeed.

The theory I’ve been developing is that this boom in L.A. food trucks is really a creative response to capitalizing on the distortions of where people and services concentrate, created by overly restrictive zoning codes and mono-cultural land use based around automobile use. I believe that these distortions created by decades of prior development are a key component that drive the success of the trucks today by creating vacuums unable to be filled by traditional brick and motor restaurants.

In the case of the Bergamot district, we have a ton of development which concentrates massive amounts of 9-5 and 10-6 office and creative studio workers into one area, and very little else. This has some significant implications for trying to operate a local restaurant.  Such land use creates an enormous market for lunch, and very little demand for any other meal. Leasing a space in Santa Monica, or building something new, are significant investments, but if the investment really only profits for about an hour and a half a day, than it becomes really difficult to operate successfully. This also limits competition, because a fewer number of businesses catering to the area are able to stay afloat and operate.

The other thing to note here, is the demographic of workers in the district, which includes many middle to upper middle class people, in white collar positions or entertainment jobs. According to Ellyn Satte’s hierarchy of food needs, once someone is well off enough to provide enough food, they begin seeking better food, more novel food, more variety, or making deliberate dietary choices. So when you concentrate a huge of influx of people craving food choices in an environment that cannot sustain many permanent restaurants within walking distance, the outcome is a lot of people driving out of the area in search of other places to eat. The food trucks invert this by bringing a variety of food choices into an area.

The migratory nature of the trucks allows them to capitalize on heavy concentrations of people at specific times, and go somewhere else when the market shifts. Past zoning policies have encouraged the separation of different types of uses, so a place that is hopping at lunch, may be dead at night, but trucks can hop between the zones in a way a brick and mortar business obviously cannot.

Some of these competitive advantages have some traditional businesses crying foul. In response, there have been calls for tighter and tighter regulations on the operation of food trucks. However I think the best thing we can do for our brick and mortar restaurants is not to kill the food trucks, but to foster development that allows traditional restaurants to better succeed. That means fostering more mixed use, and loosening zoning requirements that make it difficult to establish new businesses, or discourage the right variety of uses to sustain a customer base throughout the day. Requirements that force the building of automobile oriented development, such as high parking minimum requirements, when some parts of the city really need more pedestrian oriented environments, should be reversed. Parking is incredibly expensive to provide, and since food trucks don’t carry parking lots with them, they can get started with much lower overhead.

After seeing how Pennsylvania Ave. behind my workplace in the Penn Station Building was transformed for the better by the presence of the trucks, I think we should be looking at the opportunities food trucks offer cities. Transitioning toward more vibrant mixed use and walkable development, in places that have already built out as office worker monocultures catering to car commuters, is not going to happen overnight. Food trucks offer a way to transition, to inject a quick fix into areas that lack the right mix of businesses to create a walkable environment, but may have a bunch of parking spaces sitting around.

Now that the LUCE plan has been passed, it is really the beginning of a process that will update various zoning, ordinances and development agreements. If we are to keep to the goal of enabling growth without growing traffic congestion, we would do well to look at where and why food trucks are succeeding as a barometer. An indication of where people are craving new activity and walkable destinations. Not to mention they are a great place to get a bite to eat and try something new.

http://santamonica.patch.com/articles/the-food-truck-revolution#photo-6272612

http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2011/05/the-food-truck-revolution/