Customer Alioni Dameron waits for her Kafta Classic on the streets of Rosslyn. Photo by Michael Lee Pope.

It’s shortly after 1 p.m. on a beautiful spring day in Rosslyn. The streets are packed with people, many of whom stop to read the menu at Kafta Mania — a food truck owned by Pascal Halabi and his mother, who came to America from Lebanon about 25 years ago. Because Arlington County limits food trucks to a two-hour vending time, Halabi is about to close his door and drive away despite the fact that he still has customers wanting to place an order.

“How am I supposed to tell customers if they are waiting in line to get food after two hours that I have to shut my window and I can’t serve them?” he asked. “Would you tell a brick-and-mortar business that they have to close after two hours?”

Tension between food trucks and brick-and-mortar businesses is nothing new. But now that the Arlington County Board has given the green light to the creation of new vending zones, the rules of the game have changed a bit. The county manager’s office now has the authority to create new zones where food truck vendors could potentially stay longer than two hours at a time. The new zones might also allow vendors to open their doors late at night to cater to the bar crowd, rather than ending all sales at 8 p.m., which is now the case.

“I think the underlying problem is that there’s not a level playing field,” said Arlington Chamber of Commerce president Rich Dowd. “In a normal brick-and-mortar operation they have fairly heavy expenses, especially in Arlington.”

THE HISTORY OF FOOD TRUCKS in Arlington dates back to 2008, when the County Board took action to expand a set of rules created for ice-cream trucks. Back then, the vendors were limited to parking for five minutes at a time — and, even then, the customer was required to stop the vendor for a sale. Since that time, food trucks have exploded thanks in part to the social-media revolution. Today, the county has about 100 licensed mobile food vendors.

“We need more places to go,” said Chong Lee, who sells kimchi tacos out of a green truck called Lime Tree. “And we need more time.”

Owners of food trucks and food carts disagree with those who say they don’t pay taxes and fees.

“Well that’s not fair because we pay state tax,” said Sabri Uzun, who sells crepes out of a cart at Crandal Mackey Park. “But they don’t like competition so what can we do?”

NOW THAT COUNTY BOARD members have taken action to give the county manager’s office more authority to create new vending zones, Arlington officials have the ability to draft a new map that would allow longer hours and later nights for the vendors. But, according to commercial development specialist Jill Griffin with Arlington Economic Development, no discussion is currently taking place to create a new zone.

“We have to be careful,” said Griffin. “We need to look at the land use that’s around and the parking resources and what’s happening in the evening.”

For the time being, county officials have not taken any steps to create any vending zones. That means that all food trucks are limited to two hours in a specific parking spot, and that they must stop selling at 8 p.m. All vendors must live with that for now. County officials have the ability to create hours that are longer and later, although they seem to be in no rush to make that happen.

“Sometimes you are in the mood at 12:30 and sometimes at 1:30, and then they’re gone,” said Alioni Dameron, who works in Rosslyn. “So you are stuck with the usual corporate choices.”

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2013/may/15/arlington-food-trucks-longer-later/

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2013/05/arlington-va-will-arlington-food-trucks-be-able-to-park-longer-than-two-hours-or-after-8-p-m/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2013/04/arlington-va-board-votes-to-extend-food-truck-parking-time/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2013/04/arlington-va-board-votes-to-extend-food-truck-parking-time/#comments Sun, 28 Apr 2013 15:00:40 +0000 MFN Editor #1 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=50975 By Contributor |  ARL Now.com

The Arlington County Board last night voted to extend the one-hour parking limit for food trucks by another hour.

Food trucks will now be able to serve customers on local streets for up to two hours. They will not, however, be able to stay longer than the time allocated by the meter zone they’re parked in.

The previous one-hour limit had led to complaints and even legal challenges from food truck owners who argued that an hour doesn’t give them enough time to serve hungry customers in busy parts of the county where parking is at a premium.

“The extension of the vending time better reflects typical lunch hours and more closely aligns with the metered parking zones in Arlington,” the county said in a press release. “More than 90 percent of metered parking spaces within Arlington’s metro station areas are regulated for two or more hours.”

In voting unanimously for the change, Board members said food trucks are increasingly integral part of the community.

“Street vending has become a growing part of the retail scene in Arlington,” said County Board Chair Walter Tejada. “These changes, by giving vendors flexibility and ensuring consistent enforcement, provide balance and clarity for all of Arlington’s businesses that serve customers.”

Doug Maheu, Arlington County Director of the Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington and owner of the Doug Food Dude food truck, said in a statement that food truck owners are largely pleased with the change, but would have liked even more time to vend.

Although the members of Metropolitan Washington Food Truck Association would not consider these amendments perfect, we do understand that they are a work in progress. We look forward to participating in future conversations with Arlington County as well as other stake holders on crafting equitable vending regulations. We applaud the Arlington County Board for moving forward to make Arlington a thriving diverse business community.

Maheu said food truck owners will continue to ask for four hour “block permits” that would allow even more vending time. As for the possibility of an influx of food trucks from D.C. to Arlington, should the District enactstrict food truck regulations that have been proposed by Mayor Vincent Gray, Maheu said he’s not overly concerned.

“I believe that the market will take care of competition as it always done,” he said.

Maheu said he’s aware of 3 or 4 D.C. food trucks that have applied for permits to serve customers in Arlington, but added that he didn’t believe those applications were made in response to D.C.’s proposed regulations.

http://www.arlnow.com/2013/04/24/board-votes-to-extend-food-truck-parking-time/

A customer purchases lunch from one of the hundreds of vending trucks that set up shop along the streets of Washington, DC. (Photo credit: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

ARLINGTON, Va. — Food trucks in Arlington will have a whole two hours to sell their goodies now, as the county board unanimously approved doubling the previous one-hour parking limit Tuesday.

By 3 p.m., the lunch rush might be over on Wilson Boulevard but there are still plenty of people interested in making a quick run for a curbside cupcake. Now that he’s got an extra hour to work with, Brandon Lawson tells WNEW’s George Mesthos that he can keep his pink truck on the curb and scoop up the snackers and stragglers.

“That little bit of time can make the difference,” he said.

But brick and mortar businesses still aren’t thrilled that the food trucks can cut off the path to their doors.

RELATED — Food Truck Association: DC Trucks in Jeopardy

“You know, you walk down from the Rosslyn Metro and there’s five food trucks serving breakfast,” said Spencer Lacey, general manager of Brown Bag Rosslyn. But his restaurant is fighting fire with fire.

“We just started our food trucks about two months ago… trying to capture some of that business that all these trucks are seeing.”

Lawson says the changes in Arlington are a good start, but he and other food truckers are worried about changes the District is considering.

If Mayor Vincent Gray’s latest proposed “Mobile Roadway Vending” regulations are enacted, trucks would become illegal in most of downtown D.C., representatives of the DC Food Truck Association said in March.

“They’re trying to force it so that we’re not close to certain restaurants all around D.C., and a lot of hot spots where we do sell at, there’s restaurants there already,” Lawson said. “So, it’s making it very difficult… it’s a real big, big issue.”

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/04/24/food-truck-climate-warms-up-in-arlington/

Arlington’s food trucks may have an easier time adhering to the law if the County Board adopts changes to an ordinance this weekend. The parking issues that have been plaguing food truck vendors and resulted in legal battles in recent months will come up at Saturday’s board meeting.

Proposed ordinance changes include extending the amount of time food trucks can park in one space from one hour to two hours. Currently, food trucks must move after one hour, but the ordinance wording is vague and doesn’t specify how far the vehicle must move, causing problems with enforcement. That’s another issue board members will examine on Saturday.

Food truck vendors have argued that the 60 minute rule hurts business because they were often forced to move in the middle of a lunch rush, or else face a citation. County staff appears to agree, based on the following excerpt from the staff report:

This time limitation is challenging for vendors and customers when typical lunch hours are between 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. A vendor is not able to adequately serve customers and patrons are unable to purchase lunch if their hours don’t correspond. Further, the overwhelming majority (approximately 90 percent) of parking meters within the Metro Station Areas are for at least two (2) hours.

Under the proposed ordinance amendments, the two hour limit would only cover time when vendors are actively selling to customers, not food prep time or clean up time. After a vendor’s time expires, sales would be required to stop and the vehicle would need to be moved to another marked parking space. If the parking area does not have metered spaces, the vehicle would need to be moved at least 25 feet.

Last month, a representative for the Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington told ARLnow.comthat the organization supports the county’s proposed ordinance changes.

http://www.arlnow.com/2013/04/18/food-truck-parking-woes-may-lessen/

There’s nothing better than walking around after a long day of classes only to spot a food truck parked on the side of the road, dishing out all kinds of crazy cuisine.  Better yet, if you’re out sight-seeing or shopping and simply don’t want to deal with the hassle of a restaurant, D.C. can almost always bail you out with a food truck in the immediate vicinity. However, according to The DCist, the food truck culture of Washington DC may change as we know it.

Although there may not be reason to panic yet, more difficult restrictions imposed on DC food truck “zones” coupled with looser laws in Arlington, VA may shift the epicenter of the D.C.-Metro food trucks away from D.C. and across the Potomac.  On April 20, Arlington County is holding a public hearing regarding a change in restrictions that would allow for more flexibility in timing and location of food trucks in the area.  Later, on April 30, the D.C. Council is holding a hearing that would change the process of “zoning” into lottery allocation, which would mean that unlucky trucks would be forced to shift away from D.C.  Plus, the combination of the rule changes would simply make it easier for trucks to operate in Arlington.

D.C.’s food truck industry is extremely profitable, though, and the trucks would probably do more business here than across the river.  However, these restriction changes could certainly mean a large change in availability and accessibility to food trucks, as numerous businesses would likely shift to Virginia.

I personally don’t know what I’d do without cheap delicious food on wheels, so lets hope that they’re here to stay.

http://www.blog.thehoya.com/goodbye-food-trucks/

Credit Rachel Hatzipanagos

When Elaine Hosein and her family were looking to launch a food truck selling their homemade donuts, they thought about Washington, but quickly found that launching in Arlington would be the better option.

“It’s way easier to set up in Arlington then DC,” said Hosein, co-owner of food truck Mama’s Donut Bites, which started operating in March.

If proposed new regulations for food vendors in Arlington County take effect, starting a food truck in the county could be easier. The changes to the county’s code relating to food trucks would extend the amount of time vendors can stay in one place from one hour to two and will allow for more flexibility where vendors can set up.

The county is hosting a public hearing April 20 to discuss the proposed changes to make the county more food truck friendly.

If passed, Arlington could be the most headache-free option for rolling out a food truck in the Washington metro area.

“It’s one of the more enlightened approaches to vending,” said Doug Povich, the chairman of Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington. The organization has about 50 members and promotes food trucks in the region, and works with area local governments to create laws favorable to vendors.

The regulations mark Arlington’s next step in its evolving stance on food trucks. Before 2008, food trucks were only allowed to be on the curb for five minutes or less. That was revised to an hour, but that still may not be enough to accommodate the county’s 100 licensed mobile food vendors.

“We’ve recognized that the hour is not sufficient for our vendors and the customers of vendors,” said Jill Griffin, who is a commercial development specialist for Arlington’s Economic Development office. “So we’ve been looking at this for a while.”

The new regulations also allow the county manager more flexibility in judging where vendors would be allowed to park. Currently, vendors can’t be parked beyond 1,200 feet of a Metro station.

The Mama’s Donut Bites truck parks near the Rosslyn Metro, and they will even hold a second parking spot using another car as a courtesy for other food vendors.

Any changes to county regulations are part of Arlington’s larger concerns in managing “the public realm” in the face of competing priorities, Griffin said.

“The initial public hearing is to fix a small piece of the vending ordinance. Working with business owners, property owners and restaurateurs we will be looking at a more comprehensive revision,” Griffin said.

It’s a move “in the right direction,” said Povich, with the food truck association. It comes a few months after charges were dropped against Korean fusion food truck Seoul Food Truck, which operates in Arlington and the metro area.

Owners Anna Shil and her husband J.P. Goree could have faced a $2,500 fine and up to a year in jail after getting a ticket from Arlington police for not moving her truck far away enough from her initial parking space after their first hour of vending.

The charges against the Seoul Food operators were later tossed out of an Arlington court after the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office determined that the law was too vague to enforce, according to Robert Frommer, of the Arlington-based Institute for Justice. Among other causes, the institute advocates for legalizing food trucks as part of its “National Street Vending Initiative.”

“Thankfully the Arlington county commissioners have gone back to the drawing board,” Frommer said. “I think, ideally, food trucks should be able to stay as long at a location as any other vehicle.”

Griffin, from the county’s economic development office, said the Seoul Food incident wasn’t the only reason the county has decided to review its codes.

“I wouldn’t say it was from a specific incident, we’ve taken a holistic look at food trucks,” Griffin said.

Beyond Arlington

The ruling may even attract more vendors to Arlington since Washington is currently considering laws that would make it more difficult for vendors to operate, Povich said.

“There have been some issues with respect to a lot of trucks in popular areas of the city and that has led to parking congestion and issues,” Povich said. “So DC wanted to solve those problems.”

Proposals in DC would restrict the amount of food trucks where there is less than 10 feet of unobstructed sidewalk and other restrictions that the food truck association says would be unreasonable.

“When you compare [DC] to Arlington where you could park up to two hours, it’s like night and day,” Povich said. “That’s the way it should be.”

The food truck association is also working with local governments in the city of Alexandria, which bans food trucks entirely except for certain special events, and Fairfax County, which Povich said could also benefit from a revamp of its current laws.

The public hearing on the proposed new regulations in Arlington County take place April 20. After that, the Arlington County Board would have to formally approve any changes to the code.

http://clarendon.patch.com/articles/owning-a-food-truck-in-arlington-may-get-easier

Food trucks in Arlington would be allowed to remain in one spot for up to two hours, under an ordinance change set for County Board consideration this Saturday.

Under the current ordinance, known as Chapter 30, food trucks are only allowed to remain parked for up to one hour. After that, they must move — but the current ordinance is vague and doesn’t specifically say how far they must move. Also, the ordinance contains contradictory language that can be interpreted as suggesting there is no time limit.

Food truck owners argue that the 60 minute limit hurts their business, as it can force them to shut down and move in the midst of the breakfast or lunch rush, even when customers are lined up. Since the trucks frequent busy Rosslyn, Ballston and Crystal City, that often means spending valuable sales time searching for a new parking space.

Food truck owners, fed up with getting ticketed for loitering when they refused to move, recently started mounting legal challenges against the ordinance, attacking the vague language. Last month they succeeded in getting prosecutors to drop loitering charges against one truck that was ticketed after police said it didn’t move “far enough.”

At the time, county officials acknowledged that the ordinance caused challenges for food vendors.

“We realize that the 60-minute time limit is challenging for vendors and for customers, and we are working to change it,” Arlington County spokeswoman Mary Curtius told ARLnow.com.

True to that promise, county staff is now proposing that the food truck parking limit be raised to “the lesser of two (2) hours or the lawful time limit prescribed for the respective parking meter zone.” After that, the a food truck must only move to another marked parking space or 25 feet in the absence of marked spaces.

The County Board is set to vote to advertise a hearing on the proposed ordinance change on Saturday. After the hearing, to be held on April 20, the Board would then vote on whether to actually change the ordinance.

The one hour street vending limit was set in 2008, after the County Board voted to raise the limit from 5 minutes. From the county staff report:

Since those changes in 2008, there has been continued growth in vendors — mobile food trucks, carts and tables have increased in populated areas of Arlington. Social media has assisted with marketing for vendors, and customers have flocked to them. Today, Arlington has approximately 100 licensed mobile food vendors. The increased popularity of the mobile food vendors has raised questions about the regulations, including the amount of time permitted for vending, appropriate locations for vending, and the overall enforcement of Chapter 30.

Chapter 30’s current language has made it difficult for vendors, does not accommodate customers appropriately, and creates an enforcement challenge. Enforcement is time consuming and the ordinance does not provide clear-cut specificity. Additionally, a thorough reading of the ordinance highlighted an issue in which the construct of the language in Section 30-9 allows for a departure from the original intent of a time limitation for vending to a permissive allowance of vending anywhere, with no time limitation, so long as the vending occurs between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.

“This interim amendment addresses several inconsistencies and is just one element of the comprehensive updates that will benefit all of Arlington’s businesses and customers,” said Arlington Economic Development spokeswoman Cara O’Donnell. “As we move forward in the process, we’ll be having conversations with all stakeholders for input.”

An association of local food truck owners say they’re happy with the county’s proposal.

“The Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington is extremely pleased that Arlington is continuing its efforts to make the County a place where small businesses like ours can grow,” said Doug Povich, owner of the Red Hook Lobster Pound truck. ”Of all the jurisdictions in the area, Arlington seems to understand best how manage the various interests of all stakeholders in a way that benefits everyone. We look forward to continuing our work with the County as it is moves into the next stage of its regulatory process.”

http://www.arlnow.com/2013/03/11/staff-recommends-extending-parking-limit-for-food-trucks/

There’s a new food truck prowling the streets of Arlington, bringing freshly-made mini donuts to local office workers.

The new Mama’s Donut Bites truck started serving Arlington late last month. The truck is an expansion of a donut business that has been serving local farmers markets for the past year or so, according to Food Truck Fiesta. The donuts are made freshly in the truck using local ingredients, and served hot.

As reported by Food Truck Fiesta, the mini-sized donuts cost $3 for 6, $5 for 12 or $10 for 26. Coffee costs $1.50.

The donut menu rotates seasonally; past and current favors include “classic,” apple cider, pumpkin spice, dutch cocoa, blueberry and red velvet. According to the truck’s Facebook page, a free toppings bar offers:

• Homemade Raspberry Preserves
• Dark Chocolate Sauce
• White Chocolate Sauce
• Vanilla Icing
• Caramel
• Cinnamon-Vanilla Whipped Cream
• Clover Honey
• Cinnamon & Sugar
• Powdered Sugar
• Rainbow Sprinkles

In Arlington, the truck has thus far served Rosslyn, Ballston and Arlington Hall. The truck was supposed to travel to Rosslyn today, but reportedly had transmission problems and was instead stranded on the side of I-66.

Photo via Facebook

http://www.arlnow.com/2013/03/08/new-donut-truck-now-serving-arlington/

Seoul Food will be offering a kimchi making class this spring. (Twitter/Seoul Food)

One of Arlington’s most beloved food trucks is celebrating Monday after a judge dismissed the case against Seoul Food, whose kimchi, donburi and bibimbap have been feeding locals on the move for more than a year.

Owners Anna Shil and her husband JP Goree faced up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine for allegedly violating an Arlington County law mandating that food trucks move every hour.

The couple had been repeatedly cited by a police officer who said they were not moving far enough even though the law currently does not stipulate what distance is acceptable.

“I’m happy this is behind us and we can focus back on making the food we love, serving our regulars and preparing to open our brick-and-mortar restaurant,” Shil said in a statement. “I hope this case spurs the country to get rid of its 60- minute rule.”

In December, Shil shared on Facebook a tense encounter with a police officer:

“At courthouse, today, we were greeted by the cop as soon as we pulled over … After one hour vending, at 12;15, we moved our truck with our customer’s help, and kept running the business. The same cop appeared around 1;00, insisted we didn’t move and gave me another court order.”

Shil says the officer “tried to humiliate” her, and said it was her “lucky day” because he didn’t ask for a business license.

The Food Truck Association of Metropolitan Washington says it is hoping to work with Arlington County to draft a new law that is easier to understand.

With the legal drama out of the way, Seoul Food can now focus on opening a new restaurant in Silver Spring later this year. Details have not been released, but Shil says they will be located at 11310 Georgia Avenue, Washingtonian reports.

http://www.wtop.com/41/3218137/Arlington-food-truck-favorite-wins-court-battle

Hello ARLnow readers! I have been a fan of this site since its earliest days, and I am now proud to be a contributor. I am amazed at the dining public’s bottomless appetite for content about restaurants and food culture. As an operator, I think this is great, and the attention certainly contributes to every operator’s success. However, there does seem to be an occasional disconnect between the dining public and restaurant professionals. I hope to offer a bridge between the two by providing an insider’s perspective on trends and issues that pertain to our business. And since I am a local, and this is the most local of websites, it will have an Arlington twist.

To kick things off, I’ll take advantage of the New Year theme and start a discussion about one food trend that should be of great interest to many who live and work in Arlington. In the coming weeks, we’ll discuss other trends and give you a chance to get your burning restaurant questions answered in a live Q&A.

Food Trucks: I’ll Skip the Politics, Thanks

Ahhh, the food truck: bringing funky food to the cubicle masses in guerilla form. What an idea, albeit an old one in Arlington. Ever had a pupusa from the trucks that hover around our construction sites? Tasty. The concept has been around forever. Nonetheless, the convoys roaming the county now represent a huge trend, and it’s growing. The Post just ran a piecerecalling that during the 2008 inaugural there was one food truck operating in DC. One. This year, there are over 100. Thirty of them will be there to feed the inaugural masses today. For our recent holiday party, in fact, we hired a couple of trucks to camp out in the alley behind Spider Kelly’s for our staff to enjoy, including Big Cheese (I recommend the “Thrilled Cheese”) and District Taco (the carnitas is a favorite).

But for the consumer, the question remains: How many trucks can the market reasonably sustain? Business Darwinism will cull the herd in 2013 for two reasons. First, just because it’s on a truck with a cool paint job doesn’t mean it’s great food. Sometimes it is, sometimes it ain’t. There are only so many spots they can park in, and the service window is short. The ones that don’t truly offer something special will fade out.

Second, sometimes people want to sit down at a table inside to eat, even at lunch. Even if they don’t, most eaters assume that by sacrificing the comfort of a chair and a plate, they’ll receive a commensurate decrease in price. However, price points on these trucks can rival or exceed the restaurants they’re parked in front of. This again raises the bar for the food inside the truck: If it’s not better, cheaper and more convenient, customers will seek a spot that is. Is it worth it to squat on a curb for your meal if what’s inside that foil wrapper is just mediocre?

You, the dining public, will decide their fate with your wallets. Will there be 100 trucks prowling at noon this time next year? I wouldn’t bet on it.

In 2013, will you be visiting food trucks as often, more often or less often than you did in 2012? Let us know in the comment section.

I look forward to hearing from all of you, and if you ever want to come by to share your thoughts with me in person, pull up a barstool at Spider Kelly’s or Eventide and let me have it. But please, buy a drink first.