Catherine Dodge, who owns Hubcap Grill with her son Evan Harrell, gives food to a customer outside of The Birch on West Olney Road in Norfolk on Oct. 17, 2012. Currently mobile restaurants are restricted to certain parts of the city, downtown not being one of them. The owners of the Hubcap bring their truck here on Wednesday and Friday evenings from 5:30 to 9. (Vicki Cronis-Nohe | The Virginian-Pilot)

The push for food trucks downtown has yielded a compromise that will allow the vendors to serve while keeping them away from traditional restaurants.

Food trucks will compete for six metered parking spaces through a lottery that will be held in June, under a plan approved Tuesday by the City Council. Assistant City Manager Ron Williams said the food trucks could be serving in downtown by mid- to late June.

It’s a cautious approach, but even so, it is a good starting point, said Evan Harrell, owner of the Hubcap Grill food truck.

Harrell said he would like to see the city one day add more spaces downtown and adopt a “wide-open” approach on the periphery of downtown, especially in the arts and design district on Granby Street, north of Brambleton.

For now, the permitted trucks will rotate among the six spaces on a weekly basis during lunchtime. Outside of lunch, the vendors can choose any of the six designated spots on any given day. Those spaces will be located on Freemason Street, Plume Street at MacArthur Square, Bank Street near MacArthur Square and north of Brambleton on Granby Street.

Each vendor will pay an annual fee to offset the lost parking revenue. For a food truck, that will mean $1,390 per year; for pushcarts, the fee will be $790.

Established food trucks such as the Hubcap Grill already are paying a portion of that, but a downtown district vendor fee and a fire inspection fee will be new. That will cost Harrell about $800 more annually, he said.

“I think that’s fair,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is take money away from the city.”

The council has been debating the regulations for several months, and the version that was approved Tuesday night had been significantly revised to address the concerns of restaurateurs. In December, the Planning Commission voted to allow food trucks on public and private property downtown. The council voted to allow them in the public right-of-way in downtown, giving the city more control.

The ordinance passed on a 5-1 vote, with Councilman Andy Protogyrou voting against it. Councilwoman Theresa Whibley, the lead proponent on council, and Councilman Paul Riddick were absent. Protogyrou said he’s not opposed to food trucks, but “putting them in the heart of downtown where I’ve just seen two businesses close at this point, in this economy, I can’t go for it during those tender lunch hours.”

Mayor Paul Fraim said that the council “heard from a strong constituency” that didn’t want the food trucks downtown. He said Tuesday that the city wanted to “walk into this.”

“We try to strike balance in what we do here,” Fraim said.

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/05/norfolk-allows-food-trucks-metered-spaces

Courtesy City of Norfolk

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – Food trucks could soon pop up in several locations throughout downtown Norfolk.

In a presentation Tuesday, Norfolk City Council was introduced to the several proposed locations for food trucks, as well as operating times and codes.

NORFOLK– The food truck movement is trying to gain momentum in Hampton Roads, and support.

Vendors say they need more freedom on where they can set up, so on Monday they staged a demonstration at local Haynes furniture stores to give people what they hope is a taste of what’s to come.

“For some reason, Hampton Roads is just having a hard time letting us do our business,” says Casey Haas, who co-owns Stuft, a taco vendor, with his brother Alex.

Both Haas brothers say there’s nothing new to the food truck movement but it’s new to Hampton Roads and local governments have been slow to support them.

What vendors want is the ability to set up operations on public streets. Bull Island Barbecue owner, Kerry Law says the truck restaurants are just as regulated as land restaurants, if not more so. He says inside his truck is state of the art equipment that provides gourmet barbecue cuisine.

“We’re probably more inspected than most because we are out and about,” says Law.

Resistance isn’t just coming from local governments that worry about the trucks causing traffic issues. Many restaurants also have no appetite for the idea.

Manager Randy Windley is the manager at Doumar’s in Norfolk and says they’ve been paying taxes at the Monticello Avenue site since 1934.

“I wouldn’t want a barbecue truck that could freelance on the other side of the block here and sell barbecue. I think that would hurt business,” said Windley.

http://www.wvec.com/news/Food-truck-vendors-stage-demonstration-191735701.html

Twisted Sister Cupcakes

Food truck owners are still waiting to wheel into downtown.

Although the city’s planning commission has recommended that the city council approve the production of meals-on-wheels in downtown Norfolk from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekends, the city council tabled the issue earlier this month for further review.

Cassandra Ayala, owner of Twisted Sister Cupcakes, said city council members – reluctant and otherwise – should inform themselves about food trucks to make an “educated, group decision.”

“I have been doing this for two and a half years,” she said.” I pay my taxes to the city of Norfolk every single month. I have police officers check my vehicle to make sure I have my business license on the back of my truck. You are inspected by the state of Virginia and the city of Norfolk health department. And as a bakery, I also have to go through the Department of Agriculture.”

At the December planning meeting, dozens of food truck supporters showed up and some spoke, but no one spoke in opposition. Restaurant owners had complained that the trucks could impede their businesses.

“They see us, in their words, as unfair competition,” said Evan Harrell, owner of Hubcap Grill, a food truck. “I think they understand how silly they are. They think they are trying to protect themselves but they aren’t. They understand there is a tremendous amount of support for the trucks and they don’t want to speak out publicly against it.”

In Greensboro, N.C., the city recently completed a two-month pilot program for food trucks downtown, and it worked, said Reggie Delahanty, the city’s small business coordinator. The city solicited comment from the public and “95 percent were in support of it,” he said.

The program has been extended for another six months.

“It worked out great, especially in October, when the excitement was high and the weather was better,” he said.

http://insidebiz.com/news/food-trucks-still-wait-green-light

NORFOLK– In an informal session Tuesday night, city council members discussed the possibility of letting mobile food trucks operate downtown.

Some restaurant owners are not in favor of them and feel the trucks would take business away from brick and mortar restaurants.

Norfolk business owner Robert Soscia has spent six years trying to keep his restaurant thriving.

He said when the economy declined, less people started eating out, retail space downtown remained vacant and things got difficult.

“If we were in a bigger and more populated area it would work because you have millions of people to support the food trucks and the surrounding restaurants,” said Soscia.

Baxter Simmons owns three restaurants downtown and said if restaurants were packed and had waiting lists, he’d have no problem with food trucks in the area.

“Things aren’t booming downtown. If things were on the upswing it would be a different story. But right now they need to protect the people that have originally made the commitment to downtown and who are here through thick and thin,” said Simmons.

Food truck operator Evan Harrell thinks food trucks would bring more business to the area.

“I bring my own customers. My goal is to bring more people into downtown so I see the pie growing, I see other restaurants benefiting,” said Harrell.

Harrell hopes the city will give food trucks a try and let time decide.

“For the people who still might not be convinced, I say let’s give it a shot and you tell me in a year if it’s working for you or not,” said Harrell.

http://www.wvec.com/my-city/norfolk/Norfolk-City-Council-debates-letting-food-trucks-operate-downtown-186098661.html

The Hubcap Grill sits outside The Birch on West Olney Road in Norfolk on Oct. 17, 2012. Currently mobile restaurants are restricted to certain parts of the city, downtown not being one of them. The owners of the Hubcap bring their truck here on Wednesday and Fridays from 5:30 to 9 p.m. (Vicki Cronis-Nohe | The Virginian-Pilot)

NORFOLK –  If the City Council decides to allow food trucks in downtown, it probably will be with stricter regulations than have been proposed.

Several council members said Tuesday that they are not inclined to allow the vendors to operate throughout downtown and with the same hours as traditional businesses, as the Planning Commission decided last month.

After a lengthy discussion, it was clear that there was no consensus on how to proceed. Mayor Paul Fraim asked the city administration for more direction.

Ron Williams, an assistant city manager, talked about a “hybrid” approach that would mix city staff recommendations with what Re:Vision Norfolk requested. For example, instead of debating whether to allow the vendors on both public and private property, the council could limit them to a designated area in downtown, a “district within a district,” Williams said.

The overriding concern was the impact food trucks would have on the traditional restaurants. Councilman Andy Protogyrou said it doesn’t make sense to allow them in an area that is “already saturated with bricks-and-mortar restaurants.” Instead, food trucks could set up in the proposed art district north of Brambleton Avenue on Granby Street, he said.

“We’ve got to provide the opportunity for these to succeed,” said Councilwoman Theresa Whibley, a proponent of food trucks. “We need to boost the downtown, and I think this gives us a chance to do that.”

http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/norfolk-council-discusses-stricter-rules-food-trucks

Let the food trucks roll, the city planning commission says.

Not so fast, a Norfolk city councilman says.

The city’s planning commission has unanimously voted to recommend that the city council allow food trucks – mobile restaurants on wheels – in downtown Norfolk.

“It’s an idea like this that takes our city to a whole new level,” said commission member Dan Neumann during a public hearing earlier this month.

The commission unanimously voted to permit food trucks in downtown Norfolk. The trucks would be allowed to operate on private and public property and until 2 a.m., but the Norfolk City Council must approve the measure.

Dozens of food truck supporters attended the hearing at Norfolk City Hall, including Planning Director Frank Duke.

“Let me acknowledge I am a big supporter of food trucks,” he said, adding that they contribute to entrepreneurial activity and “economic vitality.”

The food trucks of today are not “roach coaches,” Duke said.

Over the past year, several groups, including Re: Vision Norfolk and downtown Norfolk restaurant owners, have held discussions on whether to allow food trucks downtown. Some restaurant owners expressed opposition to the plan, saying that it would impede their businesses.

“I am very sorry to say we did not reach a consensus,” Duke said.

But at the public hearing, no one spoke out against the proposal.

“I can’t call anyone in opposition because we don’t have any opposition,” said Syble Stone, vice chairman of the planning commission, during the hearing.

Duke had suggested a one-year trial period, but Don Price, a loan officer at Bank of Hampton Roads, said the one-year trial period would be detrimental to food truck startups. They wouldn’t be able to secure a loan with a bank, he said, because they wouldn’t be able to pay a typical loan of $50,000 back in that short time frame.

The commission ultimately decided against a trial period and recommended food truck vendors be allowed to operate downtown until 2 a.m. seven days a week.

The city council could take the issue up next month, but food trucks don’t have Councilman Anthony Burfoot’s vote yet.

“It’s not as simplistic as one would want to believe,” he said. “The first question is, Are these going to be trucks that have business licenses within the city of Norfolk? Some of these trucks have storefronts in other cities. Where do they pay taxes? Where would that revenue go?”

Even though Norfolk allows food trucks in other parts of the city, Burfoot said, “they are normally in areas where there aren’t restaurants and eateries,” such as construction sites.

He said he wants to “have that type of dialogue to understand how it impacts existing businesses.”

“All they have talked about is that other cities are doing this,” he said. “OK, other cities are also doing a lot of other things. I want to be the city of Norfolk. I am not against food trucks. All I am saying is I want to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.”

Mayor Paul Fraim said he doesn’t have a predisposed position.

“I like food trucks,” he said. “My only concern is that we have an ordinance that has some balance in that it not only allows the food trucks to do well, but also the people who have invested in the restaurants locally. I think we can reach a good place here, a good spot where the food trucks can work and so can the restaurants.”nib

http://insidebiz.com/news/food-trucks-get-nod-norfolks-planning-commission

Evan Harrell makes some changes to his menu on the outside of his food truck, the Hubcap Grill, parked in a lot at Boissevain Avenue and Orapax Street in Norfolk, Jan. 24, 2012. (Bill Tiernan | The Virginian-Pilot)

A group that’s been pushing the city to allow food trucks downtown got a mixed response from the city’s planning department last week.

The city’s planning staff is recommending the food trucks be allowed, but with several limitations that are more stringent than proponents desire.

Rather than allow the mobile vendors on private and public property, the city’s planning staff wants to permit food trucks only in public spaces, such as Scope Plaza, The Plot or existing parking lots, according to a city document.

Some members of the City Council already have said they don’t want food trucks on public property because it might appear as though the city is giving them an advantage over more traditional businesses.

Right now, mobile vendors are not allowed anywhere downtown, with the exception of a few grandfathered vendors.

Re:Vision Norfolk, a group focused on planning issues, has asked that food trucks also be allowed on private property, according to a letter addressed to the planning commission that was provided to The Pilot by Drew Ungvarsky, the group’s vice president.

City planners want them only on public property for a one-year trial period; Re:Vision asks that they not be inhibited by a trial period.

The group also wants food trucks to be able to stay open until 2 a.m. like other downtown businesses. Because of the number of residences downtown, the planning staff has frowned on the late-night hours. The food trucks would likely create more noise, the document says.

On the upside, food trucks would likely increase tax revenues and business license fees for the city, it says, adding that downtown businesses would likely support the expansion of such “ ‘cool city’ amenities.”

Re:Vision Norfolk’s request is on the Planning Commission’s agenda for Thursday. Although a public hearing may not be held until February, City Manager Marcus Jones and the City Council plan to discuss the issue at the council’s Jan. 8 work session, city spokeswoman Lori Crouch said.

The Downtown Norfolk Civic League supports the original proposal that would give food trucks more possible locations for service and longer hours, according to Kevin Murphy, the civic league’s president.

“We’re concerned that limiting the locations and hours sets them up for failure,” he said Friday.

The Downtown Norfolk Council will vote on the new proposal this week.

Pita Pit has a food truck at the Navy Base in Norfolk, VA.

The sandwich chain Pita Pit is making a push into nontraditional growth with the opening of units in a mobile trailer on a Navy base and in a Colorado convenience store.

The Coeur d’Alene, Idaho-based chain offering portable pita bread sandwiches, soups and salads traditionally opens in 1,200- to 1,500-foot spaces in shopping centers or urban areas.

This year, however, the brand began exploring less traditional opportunities that will increase franchisee interest in the brand, said Corey Bowman, vice president of franchise development for Pita Pit USA, parent to the mostly franchised chain, which has more than 350 locations in North America.

In November, Pita Pit opened in a 20-foot trailer on the campus of a Navy base in Norfolk, Va. The base’s retail mall had no space available in the food court, so franchisee Buzz Crown decided to experiment with a mobile location that could move around the campus.

Crown said he has an agreement to open three Pita Pit locations in the Norfolk area, and now he’s working with the city to seek approval for food truck operations with the goal of doing more mobile Pita Pit units. “We don’t know where it will take us,” said Crown of the trailer experiment. “But there’s definitely interest here in the idea of fresh, healthy food, as opposed to more traditional fast food.”

Bowman of Pita Pit said he hopes success in Norfolk will lead to growth for the chain on other Navy bases in the U.S. or around the world. “The advantage of doing mobile units like this is that we wouldn’t have to wait for space to open up,” he said.

Meanwhile, another franchisee in Colorado Springs, Colo., is experimenting with a drive thru Pita Pit outlet inside a gas station convenience store.

The unit, which opened about two weeks ago, is the first convenience store location for Pita Pit, though competitors such as Subway and Quiznos have long been building C-store units.

Bowman said two other Pita Pit C-store outlets are planned in Michigan and Ohio.

Pita Pit is already on several college campuses, and Bowman said the next move is to break into airports and sports stadiums, but competition is tough to win such contracts.

“We have a strong desire and we think we’d do well in airports and stadiums,” said Bowman. “But when you’re going up against the big boys, it’s a challenge.”

Pita Pit was founded in Canada in 1995, and the chain moved into the U.S. in 1999. Bowman was one of the first franchisees to grow the brand in the U.S., and he later joined an investment group that acquired the brand from its Canadian founders in 2005.

“We felt it could go to the next level but that we would need to take control of the brand in the U.S. and build an operating and franchising system around it,” he said.

With about 200 locations in the U.S., Pita Pit USA is expecting to see about 50 locations open in 2013, most of which will be traditional units.

http://nrn.com/latest-headlines/pita-pit-eyes-nontraditional-growth

After 16 years of serving lunch from Stan’s Hot Doggie Dogs mobile stand, Stanley Painter’s work has acquired a steady rhythm.

Using tongs, he whips together a hot dog to the customer’s specifications, then reaches into his black apron to divvy out the change. He’s quick, he’s friendly, and he’s cheap.

Painter has managed to sell his hot dogs downtown and peacefully coexist with the nearby restaurants. “I’m not taking anything from them. It’s the other way around,” he said with a laugh in between hurried customers.

He’s one guy with a food cart, though, and he’s also the only street vendor you’re likely to find on any given day downtown. If the City Council decides to allow food trucks, which are larger, more sophisticated operations, then the options for a quick bite in downtown would increase.

That’s exactly what opponents fear: that the food trucks, with their lower overhead costs and cheaper prices, would have an unfair advantage over traditional restaurants. The growing enthusiasm for the mobile eateries in Norfolk has met the resistance of city officials who worry about the effect on restaurants.

“I recognize that there is a concern with our established restaurants about competition, but that has not been a deterrent in other cities that have done it successfully,” Councilwoman Theresa Whibley said at a recent council meeting, pressing the issue.

“A rising tide has floated all the boats.”

Food truck proponents argue that, with the right limitations, food trucks would add a healthy dose of liveliness to Norfolk’s downtown that would attract people and, as a result, improve business for all.

“The people who are predisposed to be anti-food-trucks immediately assume that you want to park a truck in front of (Granby Street restaurant) 456 Fish with two wheels on the sidewalk and on a loud microphone saying, ‘Eat here, not there,’ ” said Kevin Murphy, president of the Downtown Norfolk Civic League. “That is not at all the vision.”

Re:Vision Norfolk, a civic group that regularly weighs in on planning issues in the city, has submitted a formal request to amend the zoning ordinance for downtown to loosen restrictions on food trucks. The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the issue at its Dec. 13 meeting. Drew Ungvarsky, representing Re:Vision, said the group has analyzed the approach used in cities that have a thriving food truck culture.

“We are far from the first people to figure this out,” Ungvarsky said. “This has been resolved a hundred times over in this country.”

Specifically, the request is for the city to broaden the hours of operation for mobile vendors and how long they’re allowed to serve at a single location within a 24-hour period. Currently, they are limited to one hour; the proposal would change it to three. Food trucks also could serve customers till 2 a.m. daily under the proposal.

The real controversy lies in where food trucks would be permitted to set up. Food truck supporters say they want the City Council to allow the diners-on-wheels to set up on both private and public property downtown, as long as they have the property owner’s permission. They would not be allowed in the public rights of way, such as on a sidewalk. Under this arrangement, a food truck could park at public areas like The Plot or around Scope.

Council members have mixed feelings about whether the food trucks should be on public property. Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot said having food trucks on city property would be unfair to other downtown businesses.

“We’re very fragile downtown, despite what some folks might think,” Burfoot said.

“I don’t think we should stand in the way of that, but I don’t think we should be out on the front end.”

But Ungvarsky, who is opening a traditional restaurant at 429 Granby St., said food truck businesses aren’t asking for special treatment, noting that the businesses have to pay many of the same taxes as traditional restaurants. He said he thinks food truck owners would be willing to pay to park on city property, as long as the fee was in line with what the private market would charge.

Evan Harrell, owner of Hubcap Grill Norfolk, which he started with his mom in February, acknowledged that his overhead costs are lower than a restaurant owner’s, but so are his sales. It’s all proportional, he said, and the food truck life isn’t as glamorous as some might think.

“I can’t sell alcohol. I have no seating. If it rains, I can’t go out,” Harrell said. “I’ve had to fix the truck when it broke down at 2 a.m. on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel.

“What gives me the advantage? The fact that I’m cool and trendy at the moment?”