The hungry and the curious line up at the Baquettaboutit van during the lunch truck pilot program in downtown Greensboro in October.

Saturday is the day for the Groundhog Day Food Truck Rodeo from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the parking lot at Earth Fare, 2965 Battleground Ave. in Greensboro.

The event, presented by the newly formed Central Carolina Food Truck Alliance, will feature more than 10 food trucks and vendors.

Children’s activities, raffles and other activities also are planned.

For more information, visit CCFTA’s Facebook page.

Chocolate festival 

Chocolate takes center stage during the Cheers for Chocolate Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Holly Hill Mall at Huffman Mill Road and Church Street in Burlington.

Sample chocolates and other sweets from dozens of local restaurants and confectioners.

Events will include contests for decadent desserts, chocolate cookies and baked goods. Live entertainment also is planned during the event, which is a benefit for Christmas Cheer of Alamance County.

Cost is $5 for five samples and $10 for 10 samples.

For more information, call 229-9969 or visit www.christmascheerofalamance.org.

Anniversary deal

Feeney’s Frozen Yogurt is celebrating its three-year anniversary Friday by offering a $3 frozen yogurt creation. The best part is that you don’t have to weigh your treat, so it’s all you can fit in a cup.

Feeney’s offers several daily flavors, including the exclusive Butterbeer, and a toppings bar loaded with dozens of options.

Feeney’s is at 1603 New Garden Road in Greensboro, 1589 Skeet Club Road in High Point and 931 S. Main St. in Kernersville.

Free pancakes

IHOP is offering free pancakes for its National Pancake Day on Tuesday.

Get a free short stack of pancakes from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

In return, IHOP asks patrons to make a donation to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

For more information, visit www.ihoppancakeday.com.

Valentine’s Day tours

Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours is offering Valentine’s Day tours that include dinner, drinks and dessert.

Two tours are offered in the Triad, both from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 14.

In Greensboro, the tour stops at Table 16, Bin 33, Natty Greene’s and Cheesecakes by Alex.

In Winston-Salem, the tour includes stops at Spring House, Bib’s, Foothill’s Brewery and Camino Bakery.

Cost is $65.68.

Tours are planned for the Triangle, too.

For more information about the tours, call (919) 237-2254 or visit www.tastecarolina.com.

Mimi’s goes red

Mimi’s Cafe is once again raising awareness and money for Go Red for Women during February, American Heart Month.

Wear red to Mimi’s between Feb. 1-10 and get a free cup of signature soup.

Each Tuesday in February, make a donation to the American Heart Association and get a free cup of soup.

For every $1 donation, donors get a tribute card to display. For every $5 donation, donors get a red dress lapel pin. Donors also get up to $30 in Mimi’s savings.

In Greensboro, find Mimi’s at 3322 W. Friendly Ave. In Burlington, find Mimi’s at 3111 Waltham Blvd.

For more information, visit www.mimiscafe.com.

Winter hours

Isabella’s Pizza Pub (5315 Liberty Road, Greensboro; 674-0060) has new winter hours through March.

The pub is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Chicken sandwich deal

Now through Feb. 17, participating Burger King locations are offering a buy-one-get-one (of equal or lesser value) free on its chicken sandwiches.

The offer is to promote the Original Chicken Sandwich, the new Philly Original Chicken Sandwich and the new Italian Original Chicken Sandwich.

Burger King also is offering additional new items, including Chicken Nuggets with a choice of sauce, the Avocado Swiss Whopper and Molten Fudge Sundae.

Visit www.bk.com to find a location.

New drinks, doughnuts

Warm up with new Krispy Kreme hot or iced espresso drinks in mocha, caramel latte and vanilla latte.

Krispy Kreme also is offering Dark Chocolate Strawberry and Double Dark Chocolate doughnuts through Feb. 17.

Visit www.krispykreme.com to find a location.

New menu items

• Fatz is offering a menu of shrimp dishes that start at $4.99.

The menu includes appetizers and main courses that include items such as Shrimp Hushpuppies, Firecracker Shrimp and Zesty Garlic Shrimp Pasta.

The special menu is available through Feb. 25.

In Greensboro, Fatz is at 3011 High Point Road and 619 S. Regional Road. Visit www.fatz.com for additional locations.

• Wendy’s has revamped its Right Price Right Size value menu to include up to 18 items ranging from 99 cents to $1.99.

The menu includes snacks and entrees.

Wendy’s also is offering a $1.99 Kids’ Meal after 4 p.m. that includes apple juice or milk.

Visit www.wendys.com for locations and information on a Claim Your Taste digital promotion.

• Applebee’s is offering new items that have fewer than 550 calories.

The new health-conscious items include Zesty Roma Chicken and Shrimp, Lemon Parmesan Shrimp and Roasted Garlic Sirloin.

Applebee’s is at 3200 Battleground Ave. and 4406 W. Wendover Ave. in Greensboro, 3865 John Gordon Lane in High Point and 3103 Garden Road in Burlington.

Visit www.applebees.com for additional locations.

• Chick-fil-A has brought back Chicken Tortilla Soup, available through March 31 in 8-ounce and 16-ounce servings.

Visit www.chick-fil-a.com for locations.

http://www.news-record.com/home/652787-63/short-orders-food-truck-rodeo

Hemera Technologies
A new ordinance permitting food trucks has stirred debate about its impact on downtown Greensboro, both positive and negative

 When it comes to the food truck debate playing out in Greensboro, two schools of thought have emerged.

On the one hand, several downtown brick-and-mortar restaurant owners say mobile food vendors have hurt their businesses and will continue to take customers away at a time when they are already under pressure from the poor economy.

On the other hand, some say a little competition couldn’t hurt.

The debate is raging after the City Council approved a revised ordinance this month that opens the door for more mobile vendors in the Gate City.

“This is absolutely not the right time,” saidDavid Dorner, general manager of the Liberty Oak restaurant located on the prominent corner of Elm and Washington streets in downtown Greensboro.

Dorner says he believes even his white-table cloth restaurant was negatively affected by a food truck pilot program that began last month at Commerce Place and has proven to be very popular.

Dorner said sales were down about 13 percent in October compared with October 2011. Sure, hesitancy during the election – no matter who is running —may have played a role in the situation, but he feels the biggest change was the introduction of food truck vendors that have attracted hundreds of consumers seeking quick, inexpensive meals downtown.

“I think it’s definitely affected us,” Dorner said.

He also believes that downtown Greensboro does not have the population to handle the addition of food trucks, which are popular in large cities such as New York and Washington D.C.

“We are not big enough,” Dorner said. “We don’t have the Carolina Panthers in our backyard.”

Dorner isn’t the only one who saw sales decline.

Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of Downtown Greensboro Inc., which surveyed downtown establishments to determine the impact of the pilot program, said many respondents reported that their sales declined more than 10 percent in October compared to the same period a year ago. He cautioned that other factors could be at play, including the weather.

Meanwhile, city officials and other observers say food trucks are the right way to bring more traffic downtown, energize the city and provide additional dining choices for consumers who want quick, inexpensive meals.

Competition in the marketplace is a positive for consumers, they say.

“The minute you start preventing competition from existing, you protect those who otherwise may not be providing the best combination of quality and value to customers,” said Page West, professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University.

If the arrival of food truck vendors leads to a restaurant going out of business, it’s part of the “evolution of the marketplace.”

“Some companies come, some companies go,”he said.

You can read more about the food truck situation in this week’s print edition of The Business Journal and decide for yourself.

http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/blog/2012/11/why-are-some-downtown-greensboro.html

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The controversy over food trucks downtown Greensboro continues, as a handful of restaurant owners agree they need to work together to create compromise.

“Eighty percent of the food trucks during this pilot program are not from Guilford County. Not from Greensboro. And they’d don’t employ 75 people locally,” said Natty Greene’s Co-Owner Kayne Fisher.

Fisher says their business has gone down since the food trucks pulled into town.

Guilford County Communications Specialist Jake Keys told Fox 8, “In October… there were three trucks from outside of Guilford County out of 14 total participants. That is 21.5%, not 80%.”

Fisher said lunch business at Natty’s is down 50 customers a day and 150 customers on Fridays. He attributes the loss to the appealing quick and new meal options at the four food trucks the city council is allowing on public property for another six months.

The food trucks are permitted at lunch time during the week and at lunch and dinner time on Fridays. They’ve reported thousands of meals served so far in their trial period.

“We’re going to muscle through and do everything we can to stay in business,” Fisher said. “And we hope everybody does.”

At least 20 restaurant owners attended Wednesday’s City Council meeting, most begging council members to table the food trucks decision temporarily. The Council voted to allow the food trucks pilot program to continue for six more months.

Fisher said that’s essentially betraying the “brick and mortar” businesses that have invested in filling empty downtown store fronts.

“Instead of looking at the concerted efforts of all of us that helped revitalize downtown, add to that heartbeat, the city has now changed its focus on looking to be cool and trendy,” Fisher said. “At the expense of putting someone out of business? That’s not cool or trendy.”

Food truck supporters say the food trucks add variety to meal choices and attract more people downtown. The majority of city council members agreed Wednesday.

Mayor Robbie Joines said they didn’t feel comfortable controlling or limiting free enterprise of businesses. He said the law limiting food trucks downtown Greensboro should never have been implemented years ago.

Trevor Austin and Chris Flathers are Co-Owners of Stumble Stilksins.

“I lease our space for roughly $60,000 a year. (Food Truck vendors) pay $150 for their permits for the year. Where is the fairness there?” Austin questioned. “It’s a hard pill to swallow.”

Austin and Flathers said they’ve noticed a distinct decline in business, and attribute the loss to their proximity to the food trucks.

Just across from the Grasshopper’s Stadium, Greensboro’s oldest restaurant owners are also struggling to stay afloat.

“Acropolis has been a family-owned restaurant since 1967,” said Liz Contogiannis. “If you want to build your economy, the money has to stay in your city. In your county.”

Contogiannis is also bothered that food trucks are operating on public land, monitored and cleaned by the city. “We basically have financed something that’s to our detriment,” she added.

Meanwhile, downtown’s newest businesses are making their concerns heard, too.

“We need to be on this all the time,” said Nico Scabone, owner of Nico’s Italian Restaurant on Elm Street. “All the Restaurant owners need to follow up with the city council.”

Scabone said the process of allowing this pilot program happened so quickly, many restaurants did not realize what was happening.

People dining downtown Thursday did not believe the impact of food trucks is as bad as some are claiming.

“There are certain days when I’m just gonna have to grab something quickly, and others days when I might have a little more time,” said one customer.

Beth Fonorow disagreed.

“We are business people down here,” she said. “We can’t take someone to a business lunch to a food truck. Who’s gonna come downtown if our restaurants leave?”

For now, the food trucks are here to stay.

“They’re on wheels so they can leave if things aren’t good. We have bought into an idea,” Fisher said. An investment. My house doesn’t have wheels. My business doesn’t have wheels.

http://myfox8.com/2012/11/08/natty-greenes-gso-restaurants-upset-about-food-truck-decision/

The Greensboro City Council voted to allow food trucks to operate downtown at its Wednesday, Nov. 7 meeting in the council chambers at city hall.

The food truck pilot program, which has Commerce Place blocked off for selected trucks to operate during lunch on week days as well as dinner on Fridays, has been received positively by many, whose comments were submitted to the council.

The city has also provided free advertising for the food trucks on the city website and often has a city employee on site to facilitate the program.

Wednesday night saw some of the first major pushback from downtown restauranteurs regarding both the pilot program and the ordinance change, which they said threatened their businesses.

President of Downtown Greensboro Inc. Ed Wolverton presented a public survey about food trucks and the effect of the pilot program, which, according to Councilmember Nancy Vaughan, the council had only received hours before the meeting.

According to the survey, while only 17 percent of all respondents felt the food trucks would hurt existing downtown restaurants, 62 percent of downtown restaurateurs thought they would hurt business.

Wolverton acknowledged that factors like the economy and events like the election could affect sales, but said, “The big environmental change, when we look at October 2012 was in fact food trucks being introduced as a pilot.”

Restaurateurs were asked to compare their sales in October 2011 to those in October 2012 to assess the impact of the pilot program. A decrease in sales by more than 10 percent was reported by 57 percent of the restaurants. None of the 23 restaurants surveyed reported an increase in sales.

Sixteen speakers representing downtown businesses spoke against allowing food trucks to operate downtown.

Chris Lester, one of the owners of Natty Greene’s Brewing Company, said he and some other restaurant owners hadn’t realized that the ordinance would be voted on so soon, and had met Monday, Nov. 6 to discuss the issue.

“All of us said the same thing: Wow, our business is really down,” Lester said. He said his own lunches had been down by 25 percent in October 2012 compared to October 2011, and that the food trucks were the primary change.

John Lomax of Lomax Properties also spoke in opposition, saying that restaurants provided more jobs and long-term economic growth than the food trucks threatening their businesses.

“It’s not just about bricks and mortar; it’s people’s money, investment and there are a lot of jobs in those restaurants,” Lomax said.

Calvin Williams, general manager of Tavo Restaurant and Tavern, said his sales had decreased because his customers were choosing food trucks over him. “I can say that I did venture out a few times down to where the food trucks were, and I did see a few of my regulars there,” Williams said.

There were also six speakers in favor of the food trucks, including the owners of the Baguettaboutit food truck, who argued that the trucks would add variety and vibrancy to downtown and could do so without hurting business for restaurants.

Greg Munning, owner of Taqueria El Azteca Taco Truck, said that food trucks were not a threat to restaurants, because restaurants offered a different experience, including air conditioning and a roof, for which food trucks were not a substitute. He ended his comments by asking the council to consider the free market.

Councilmember Zack Matheny said he had opposed the pilot program from the beginning, because he didn’t think the city should be involved in the food truck business.

“I don’t think we should have put the food trucks right in the heart of one of the best spots you can get downtown,” Matheny said.

Matheny went on to say that he didn’t think an outright ban on food trucks downtown made sense either.

“I think you’ve got to figure out a way to open us up so that we can be vibrant, and private property and working in that nature would be appropriate,” he said, adding that the transition should be done carefully because “growing pains” could be involved.

Matheny also said he thought the fact that the food trucks wouldn’t pay the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) tax like downtown restaurants was worth looking into. Property owners downtown pay an additional 9 cents of property tax rate to fund Downtown Greensboro Inc.

Matheny said the opposing sides should be given more opportunity to come to an agreement. “I just don’t think that it would be appropriate for us to make a decision on this right now, based on what we’ve heard from these business owners,” he said.

Councilmember Yvonne Johnson also expressed concern for the restaurant owners. “I’m not against food trucks at all but we have got to find a way to protect the businesses that are downtown and have given to this city and given to our downtown, some for many years,” she said.

Councilmember Nancy Hoffmann expressed skepticism that the food trucks, which served about 2,500 meals in October, could account for the drop in restaurant sales.

Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter said she had been under the impression that the food trucks were not controversial because she had not heard complaints from restaurant owners, but she realized, citing her experience with her own restaurant, that they may have been too busy to weigh in on the issue.

Abuzuaiter also said she wasn’t sure the vendors were paying sales tax either, from what she could tell when eating at the trucks.

Vaughan said that the question was why food trucks were banned from the business district and not other places in the city, where they are already permitted to operate on private property.

Vaughan also criticized the opposition for voicing their concerns at the last minute. “I think it’s unfortunate that you really didn’t organize until the day before yesterday,” she said, adding, “I don’t know how people couldn’t know when there’s Facebook and television and newspaper.”

That comment was followed by a commotion from the opposition speakers, who had remained lined up against the back wall of the chamber after speaking.

After Mayor Robbie Perkins called them back to order Vaughan said, “I do think it’s patently unfair that we’re protecting one part of the city and not the rest of the city.” She continued that either the entire city should be closed to food trucks or open to them, and that she thinks it should be open.

In response to concerns about reduced restaurant sales in October, Vaughan called the two month pilot program an “artificial case” because the concentration of four food trucks on public property didn’t reflect the long term change, which will only allow food trucks to operate on private property.

Vaughan said there weren’t many places for food trucks to go under those conditions, because there wasn’t a lot of private parking downtown.

Perkins said he though food trucks would bring business and vibrancy to Greensboro like they had in cities like Austin and Chapel Hill, but he acknowledged that the pilot program was a mistake.

http://greensboro.rhinotimes.com/Articles-Articles-c-2012-11-14-213815.112113-Not-Everyone-Likes-Downtown-Food-Trucks.html

 GREENSBORO—Food trucks could become more visible throughout downtown Greensboro.

Greensboro city council members extended the food truck pilot program, allowing food trucks to rent on private property downtown. However restaurant owners say so far, the food trucks are taking a bite out their business.

Food truck owner Nick Van Norman is usually out and about a couple days a week in downtown Greensboro with his truck.

“My wife and I were both laid off from American Express, so it’s a good and bad thing. But we decided to try and decide what we want to do with our family. We’ve always looked at the business of having a food truck,” said Van Norman.

And business has been good since being allowed downtown.

“It has helped us since we’ve been down here so trying to find a place where we can stay downtown will be advantageous for us,” said Van Norman.

After a two month pilot program was approved in October allowing food trucks on Commerce Place, Greensboro city councilmen approved a new six month program allowing food trucks to rent private property downtown. But some restaurant owners argue, more business for Van Norman means less for their brick and mortar locations.

“What we’re seeing is 80 percent of these food trucks aren’t even from Guilford County. We are down over 25 percent since the pilot program has started,” said owner of Natty Greene’s Kayne Fisher.

There was one restriction put in place. Food trucks can not set up within 50 feet of another restaurant. Some restaurants say, if the new program becomes permanent, it could kill their business.

“Others employ about 20-30 people and they’re talking about laying off. That’s asking a lot to stay above this economy,” said Fisher.

The city council will discuss extending the program at the end of the six-month trial period. Fisher hopes by then, everyone can work together to find a way to incorporate the trucks without hurting the already existing businesses.

http://triad.news14.com/content/669791/food-truck-pilot-program-approved-for-private-property-in-downtown-greensboro/

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/11/greensboro-nc-food-truck-pilot-program-approved-for-private-property-in-downtown-greensboro/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/11/greensboro-nc-editorial-food-trucks-now/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/11/greensboro-nc-editorial-food-trucks-now/#comments Sun, 11 Nov 2012 20:00:40 +0000 MFN Editor #1 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=31231 By Editor | New-Record.com

Halfway through the great downtown food truck trial, the conclusion is … the City Council should get out of their way.

The same conclusion should have been drawn before the trial began a month ago.

Under public pressure, the council approved a two-month test period on Commerce Place downtown. It’s gone well, and the city staff recommends changing the ordinance that bans “motorized mobile food vendors” from setting up shop in the central business district.

That’s promising. It was obviously a mistake for the council to close downtown’s central business district to food trucks, which are increasingly seen in other cities as a viable dining choice. It’s only old-fashioned, protectionist thinking that says government should shield existing restaurants from additional competition.

In Greensboro, the month of October saw people lining up at the few food trucks allowed to set up during fixed hours on a single block downtown — or at least lining up when the weather was pleasant and where the food was good.

But that’s not the point. Like restaurants or any business, some food trucks may do well while others fail. Consumers make that determination. The City Council’s job is to set reasonable and necessary regulations that apply fairly to all, and then back off.

Sure, there are complaints that food trucks enjoy advantages over fixed restaurants and contribute less to the economy. Councilwoman Trudy Wade made that point at a council work session Tuesday, suggesting the city take steps to put them on a more “equitable” basis through higher fees or more regulations.

It’s true that mobile vendors have lower overhead costs. They don’t employ as many workers, and they pay less in taxes. So what? Fixed restaurants aren’t all the same, either. Some set lower prices than others. Some have more expensively decorated dining rooms. Some do most of their businesses through take-out orders. Some deliver. Do the differences give some an unfair edge against others? Should the city try to smooth out those differences through regulations and fees?

No. The city (or county) should make sure all food-service businesses meet food-safety standards. It should make sure food trucks don’t block vehicle or pedestrian traffic. It should require them to keep their sites clean.

Otherwise, there should be minimal restrictions. Even a proposal staff presented to the council Tuesday goes too far: allowing only one truck per private lot. Councilwoman Nancy Hoffmann wisely questioned why, when some lots have plenty of room for more.

Ideally, rather than reduce volume for any business, food trucks can increase the customer base by enticing more people to eat out or attracting more people to the downtown area. They can make the downtown scene a little more diverse and interesting.

The City Council’s job is to set reasonable rules and then stand back. So, at its next meeting Nov. 7, it should reverse its ban on food trucks in the central business district and let the public decide with its dollars whether this is an appetizing option for downtown.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2012/11/01/article/editorial_food_trucks_now

By Lauren Melvin | Digtriad.com

Greensboro, NC — On Wednesday, Greensboro City Council gave food trucks the green light to operate downtown, but not just anywhere and it wasn’t without plenty of controversy.

More than a dozen downtown restaurant owners spoke out against reversing the food truck ban. They said the Food Truck Pilot Program has been hurting their business. Some of them said business was down more than 30 percent.

Nevertheless, the revisions to the Food Truck Ordinance passed.

Food trucks will be allowed to park on private property in the Downtown Greensboro area with permission from the property owner.

Additionally, food trucks must park at least 50 feet away from the main entrance of a restaurant.

The ordinance passed by a 6 to 2 vote.

City Council will take a look at how the new Food Truck Ordinance is working in six months.

The Food Truck Pilot Program will continue through the end of November.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/article/253417/57/Food-Trucks-Allowed-To-Park-On-Private-Property-In-Downtown-Greensboro

By Carter Coyle | MyFOX8.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Just a few weeks into Greensboro’s pilot program for Food Trucks downtown, a marketing company says they will be recommending them as a permanent fixture to the city.

The Sales Factory is surveying customers and gathering information about the food trucks the city is allowing on Commerce Place downtown for the month of October.

On November 7th, Greensboro City Council will consider changes to downtown ordinances that would allow for more food trucks in more places.

“More people are coming from outside the downtown zip code than even from inside the downtown area,” said Jordan Bressler, Managing Director of Communications Strategy at The Sales Factory.

“Our research shows as many as 300 people every day patronizing the four food trucks,” Bressler added.

“I think it’s a great experiment,” said Kelly Yates, who works downtown near the food trucks. “I’m glad Greensboro is letting them do this- just to try something new and different.”

Yates tried crepes a few weeks ago and on Friday he enjoyed an order of beer-battered fish tacos.

He also met his son’s kindergarten class for their food field trip. Lead Teacher Meredith Sawyer says they are using the food trucks near their school to reinforce this month’s lessons about food groups and healthy choices.

“It’s great because there’s a variety of foods they normally wouldn’t try. And there are healthy options, too. It’s not just a bunch of fried food,” said Sawyer. “It was a pretty cool experience that [the kids] get to come outside and have a picnic right in the middle of downtown.”

She added, “At least five people I work with come here every day to get something to eat from the food trucks!”

Food truck owners say they are cooking overtime to keep up with demand.
Captain Ponchos, The Great Escape, My Dream Cakes, Baguettaboutit, Marty’s BBQ 2, and The Sandwhich Shop are just a few of the food trucks interested in continuing to meet Greensboro’s appetite in the coming months.

“No one expected this kind of success,” said Bressler.

http://myfox8.com/2012/10/26/food-trucks-cooking-up-success-downtown-greensboro/

By Lauren Melvin | WFMY News 2

Greensboro, NC –Food trucks will soon hit the streets of downtown Greensboro.

On Tuesday, Greensboro City Council members voted in favor of a resolution to launch a food truck pilot program.

Currently, food trucks are not permitted to operate in downtown Greensboro.  However, some city residents have asked City Council members to allow them.

“The guys I work with, we’re all well-trained chefs and understand food and want to be able to give a good product on the street,” said Dallas Baker, who owns a food truck.

“It’s just more variety for downtown. It allows new entrepreneurs to grow, new businesses to start. And it gives everyone downtown a lot more choice,” said Baker’s partner, Sam Shumaker.

On Tuesday, Greensboro City Council approved a two-month food truck pilot program. It would last through the months of October and November.

They want to see how much support there is for food trucks and whether they would take business away from traditional downtown restaurants, which is what some restaurant owners fear.

“From a business perspective, I wouldn’t want one parked outside my restaurant or bar. And from a council perspective, we’ve got to weigh those two and find a happy medium, a compromise,” said Councilman Zack Matheny.

The council plans to use what they learn during the pilot program to help them revise their food truck ordinance.

For instance, they want a better idea of whether they should require food trucks to pay taxes in Guilford County, be inspected in Guilford County, and how close to a restaurant food trucks should they be allowed to park.

“Competition is good and I think that the food trucks can bring foot traffic to downtown and maybe people will notice restaurants that they didn’t before,” said Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan.

Sandy Ellington, Health Educator with the Guilford County Department of Public Health, said food trucks must comply with all restaurant health regulations.

What’s more, Ellington said food trucks have to be affiliated with a restaurant so they can return to it daily to re-stock their supplies and get rid of waste water.

Ellington said food trucks used to receive either a pass or fail, but with the new food code, they are now graded just like restaurants.

http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/243775/57/City-Coucil-Gives-Green-Light-To-Food-Trucks

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/09/greensboro-nc-city-coucil-votes-for-food-truck-pilot-program/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/09/greensboro-nc-city-council-stages-its-own-food-truck-fight/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2012/09/greensboro-nc-city-council-stages-its-own-food-truck-fight/#comments Sun, 02 Sep 2012 16:47:00 +0000 MobileFoodNews.com http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=28273 By John Hammer | Rhino Times

City Councilmembers (from left) Zack Matheny, Trudy Wade, Marikay Abuzuaiter, Dianne Bellamy-Small, Mayor Robbie Perkins, Yvonne Johnson, Jim Kee, Nancy Vaughan and Nancy Hoffmann in the council chambers Tuesday night. Photo by: John Hammer.

Tuesday, August 28, the Greensboro City Council, despite the best efforts of Mayor Robbie Perkins to move on, spent nearly an hour discussing food trucks. And not just food trucks, but food trucks in the downtown. And not just food trucks in the downtown, but specifically whether to pass an ordinance allowing food trucks in the downtown or have a 30-day pilot program during which a limited number of food trucks would be allowed in the downtown on Commerce Place but nowhere else.

How do you limit the number? How much do you charge them to park on the street? How many do you allow? These questions overshadowed the other issues in the city, like one that Councilmember Trudy Wade brought up concerning crime on High Point Road or three that Perkins mentioned: jobs and economic development, public safety and infrastructure.

No, the City Council spent most of its one work session of the month discussing food trucks and whether to lift the ban on them in the downtown permanently or with a pilot program.

In the end, as this council so often does, it punted.

The consensus after the 50-minute discussion was that there was no consensus and the staff would present a plan at the Sept. 4 City Council meeting, a public hearing would be held and then something else would happen. Who knows what. The council has not hired a consultant to prepare a report on food trucks, so that is a possibility. Perhaps a citizens’ task force will be appointed. It would hopefully be made up of 40 or 50 citizens who will meet and dissect food trucks for week after week.

Councilmember Zack Matheny kept trying to convince his fellow councilmembers there was no need for a pilot program. But the Nancys – Councilmembers Nancy Vaughan and Nancy Hoffmann – had reportedly put a lot of work into planning a 30-day pilot program and were not going to be denied their pilot program by someone who wanted to skip the preliminaries and get the job done.

The whole thing got started because Perkins, who does sometimes try to get this council to do something, said about the food truck item later on the agenda: “I think we could go through this in about 30 seconds.” He added, “Everyone has discussed the food truck to death.” So he suggested the council go ahead and get that out of the way before the closed session. The agenda called for the council to immediately go into closed session to discuss City Manager Denise Turner Roth’s evaluation. Please note that it was not to evaluate Roth but to discuss how the council would evaluate Roth. This council doesn’t like to jump into anything.

So when Perkins launched the council into a discussion of food trucks there were some logistical problems. The discussion had been going on for much longer than 30 seconds when City Attorney Mujeeb Shah-Khan got Perkins’ attention and asked if the meeting had started because he did not think the clerk was taking minutes. The assistant city clerk said that she indeed was not taking notes. She hadn’t been prepared to take notes since some councilmember was supposed to read a prepared motion to go into closed session and then they were all going to troop upstairs to another “more secure” conference room where they would hold their closed session. A weekly newspaper reporter in the room offered his excellent notes to the city for the official minutes, but so far the city has not requested them.

After about 10 more minutes of discussion with the clerk taking notes, Perkins said it was clearly not something that could be handled in 30 seconds and suggested that the staff go ahead and give its report. By this time Roth had sent someone upstairs to get her notes, papers, iPhone and iPad for the food truck discussion, which was taking place about an hour before it had been scheduled.

Matheny at the very beginning said, “I think we are setting ourselves up for even greater confusion.” They turned out to be prophetic words.

One point of confusion was that Vaughan kept saying that the pilot program planned for Commerce Place, which is really just a big mostly empty parking lot between Friendly Avenue and Bellemeade Street, was not in the food truck prohibited area downtown. Roth had to correct Vaughan.

Matheny kept pointing out that the city did not need to be in the food truck business. He said, “We couldn’t really manage the farmers’ market. That didn’t work out for us.” And he pointed out that the city was going to pick the vendors that had exclusive rights to the downtown for 30 days and rent them space on a city street for some unknown cost.

Matheny’s suggestion was that the city simply lift the ban and allow food trucks on private property downtown, but that the city shouldn’t pick favorites. He also brought up the point that if the city had a trial period then the council would discuss it and hear from the public before the pilot program and then again if they decided to lift the ban. Nobody on the council seemed to oppose lifting the ban, although since Hoffmann rarely says anything it is difficult to determine where she stands on any issue.

Matheny asked, “What is the point of prohibiting them in the CBD [central business district]?”

Roth answered, “I’m sorry I don’t know.”

It is difficult to convey how refreshing it was to hear those words. In the past city staff has made up the most convoluted answers imaginable to keep from having to say they didn’t know. Perhaps Roth can change the corporate culture.

Perkins noted, “We can regulate this thing to death.”

At one point it looked like Matheny and Perkins were going to be able to push through rewriting the ordinance without Vaughan and Hoffmann’s pilot program, but Vaughan was not about to give up. Hoffmann did answer a question and said, “The concept is fresh food on the truck.”

After some back and forth where Roth was desperately trying to get some direction from the council, Perkins said, “Do them both.”

Matheny noted, “We are going to be talking about this at least three more meetings.”

It seemed impossible, but after that the meeting got even sillier. Roth has a plan to take February One Place and a parking lot just south of the railroad tracks on South Elm Street and put out cafe tables and chairs, string lights over the areas and block them off with planters.

Why anyone would sit at one of these tables was never explained. When asked, Roth said, “We would have downtown ambassadors in the area to take comments on the area.”

Presumably there would be music or food or something to drink, but all the council got was this was something in the Cooper Carey report on the downtown. Roth also said that the Parks and Recreation Department staff would probably be involved in setting things up and taking them down. No one explained where the tables and chairs would come from, but Wade did make a good point. She said, “There are other sections of Greensboro other than the downtown.”

Perkins said several times during the discussions that the council was “down in the weeds.” When doing another survey was brought up Perkins said, “Let’s take a survey of the 268,000 people in Greensboro,” evidently getting a little frustrated.

Toward the end of the meeting Perkins said, “Until we get out of the weeds and get to work on some jobs, we are going to be going around in circles.”

The final result as near as anyone could tell was that the city staff is going to bring back resolutions for a pilot program for food trucks on Commerce Place to please Vaughan and Hoffmann and an ordinance to end the ban on food trucks in the downtown that Matheny kept pushing.

No doubt by Christmas there will be some resolution to the great downtown food truck debate.

As for tables and chairs downtown, the staff is going to move forward on that.

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