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RAMW Statement in Advance of Public Roundtable on Proposed Vending Regulations
May 3, 2013
In one week the D.C. Council will convene a public roundtable in advance of an up or down vote on the fourth version of the proposed vending regulations. RAMW is in favor of the proposed regulations, which provide the necessary framework to make smart decisions about mobile vending in the District of Columbia.
Our hope for the passage of these regulations does not stem from a plan to thwart the competitive power of the new kids on the block. Indeed, it would be foolish to enter the foodservice industry without a desire to compete and differentiate. As representatives of Metropolitan Washington area dining establishments, we fully realize the high costs associated with starting a restaurant and we commend our friends in food trucks who have economized their operations and elevated the dining experience for those living and working in Washington, D.C. Our goal then is not to diminish the importance of small businesses which contribute to the vibrancy of city life but to ensure that a more formal system of oversight is established and applied towards a segment of D.C.’s food service industry that has for years operated without having to give much thought to the public space it uses to generate private gains. We firmly believe that the fourth version of the proposed mobile vending regulations provides the impetus for changes in city regulations which are long overdue and will finally bring the regulations into compliance with the law. The proposed vending regulations will not put food trucks out of business or bring an end to the D.C. food truck scene. They are not a plot concocted to stifle competition, kill jobs or deny consumer choice. Those are merely the contentions of people who apparently are not happy playing by any rules except for the ones they make for themselves. Reading just a portion of the proposed regulations will make this painfully clear.
DC Food Trucks, Restaurants Look Forward to New Regulations
Story by Eric P. Newcomer, Washington Examiner February 24, 2013 As D.C. food truck owners get ready for the bigger crowds that go along with the approaching warmer weather, the city's roving restaurateurs continue to operate under -- or ignore -- antiquated ice cream truck regulations. Even the food truck industry's natural foe, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, wants reforms soon. "We'd love for this to be resolved in the next 30 days, and really before the warm weather and spring hits," Kathy Hollinger, the group's president, told The Washington Examiner. Read the full article.
RAMW Submits Comments on Vending Regs
On Tuesday, November 13, RAMW submitted written comments to DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs concerning the proposed mobile vending regulations. The proposed regulations provide a reasonable framework for the operation of vending business, both sidewalk vendors and stationary roadway vendors, in the District of Columbia. With respect to Mobile Roadway Vendors, however, the proposed regulations are utterly inconsistent with the Vending Regulation Act of 2009 (the “Vending Act”), which requires that vending site permits be issued for specific locations. Ignoring the provisions of the Vending Act which require designated locations upsets the management of public space and provides an unfair preference for food trucks over all other public space uses.
RAMW Statement on Mobile Vending and Parking Enforcement
September 21, 2012
RAMW recognizes food trucks as a legitimate food business, and a possible incubator of new food concepts. Unfortunately the media tends to focus on the fight and not the facts of the debate at hand, which is really about the fair use of public space. For example, food truck owners have asserted that the local police forces have unfairly targeted their operations by issuing parking tickets and citations to those who park roadside and serve food for longer than allowed by the meter. In reality, the enforcement of these restrictions only reinforces the need to reexamine public space management regulations so that they are fair for all businesses. D.C. food trucks lobbying to change outdated ‘ice cream truck rules’ By J.D. Harrison , Washington Post, Capital Business September 17, 2012
Washington’s
food truck owners will soon operate under an improved tax system, but
they are still waiting for the city to approve additional changes to
long-standing regulations they say were meant for old-fashioned ice
cream trucks and make life unnecessarily complicated for today’s mobile
vendors.
Food trucks must be closely regulated
As published in the The Georgetown Current, March 14, 2012
The Georgetown Business Association was one of more than 3,000 organizations or individuals to submit comments to the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs regarding its proposed rule-making related to food truck vending.
We commend the department for tackling this important issue. Food trucks represent an emerging business in our city; they provide jobs and offer a range of interesting, varied culinary choices for consumers. As small businesses, they should be encouraged — but they should also be regulated in a manner that is fair and on par with existing public space oversight.
Absent clearer, stronger final regulations, our association is concerned that existing businesses could find themselves overwhelmed by the presence of food trucks in front of their businesses, blocking entryways for their customers and causing unsanitary conditions for trash and food disposal.
Final regulations should permit food trucks at a specific location, within a specific block and within the designated food-vending zone. Also, there should be a limit for the number of food trucks on any given block — permitting only one or two trucks per block so as to avoid any possibility of an area becoming overwhelmed by food truck vending. While this is a potential concern for every zone throughout the city, it is particularly important for Georgetown, given the limited pedestrian sidewalk space in our community.
These suggestions comport with the city’s management of public space, which delineates and limits all manner of uses and activities within public space. Our comments, therefore, effectively urge parity with current practice, something that was lacking in the proposed rule-making.
Our association’s comments also support the suggestions of other Georgetown organizations in urging the prohibition of vending in residentially zoned areas and the imposition of strict waste management policies.
We look forward to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs’ final regulations and appreciate the care the agency has taken in its attempt to address this important and emerging business issue.
Rokas Beresniovas
President, Georgetown Business Association
Cathy Merrill Williams, the president and publisher of Washingtonian Magazine, Tweeted on Tuesday February 14: @merrillwilliams: Food trucks can really hurt our city. Good reporting from the Blade: http://bit.ly/zZ1LOo
Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) Lauds DC Councilmembers Jack Evans and Michael Brown for advocating Sales Tax Parity
WASHINGTON, DC (March 1, 2012) – The Committee on Finance and Revenue of the Council of the District of Columbia today passed out of committee, by unanimous vote, the Vendor Sales Tax Collection and Remittance Act of 2012, which requires vendors in the District to collect sales taxes from patrons and remit them to the District, like other businesses.
“The bill amends a section of the District's tax law that currently exempts sidewalk and mobile street vendors from sales tax requirements,” comments Jack Evans.
RAMW President Lynne Breaux states, “RAMW does not support increased taxation, however we do support tax fairness in treating businesses in the same industry equally.”
The current laws, which exempt vendors, including food trucks, from the requirement of collecting from patrons the 10% retail sales tax on prepared food, in effect gives one segment of the industry a competitive price advantage.
RAMW views passage of the Vendor Sales Tax Collection and Remittance Act of 2012 as an important first step in assuring that food trucks are treated like other food businesses, and that there is regulatory parity among all. RAMW commends CM Jack Evans, Committee Chair, for his leadership in moving the legislation, along with CM Michael Brown for co-introducing it, and CM Muriel Bowser for joining with the two of them in voting the bill out of Committee.
Comment period on vending regulations ends: Businesses, including restaurants, raise serious and substantive concerns about proposed regulations
WASHINGTON, DC (March 1, 2012) – Today marked the end of a nearly 6 week period during which the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) accepted comments concerning proposed regulations to govern vending, including food trucks, in the District of Columbia. Over 70 restaurant operators employing over 6,500 area residents expressed concerns about the proposed regulations, principally about a provision that allows food trucks to operate, from any legal parking space, without regard for their impacts on other uses of public space.
RAMW was joined by many of the leading business organizations in the District of Columbia in expressing concerns about the proposed regulations, incuding the Apartment and Office Building Association, DC Building Industry Association, DC Chamber of Commerce, the Hotel Association of Washington, DC. In addition, the DC Council of BIDS, the umbrella organization for all of the Business Improvement Districts in the District of Columbia expressed concerns about the proposed regulations, among others. More...
D.C. Council to Move on Bill That Would Make Food Trucks Charge Sales Tax
February 28, 2012
On the same day this week that a 30-day comment period for new rules on the city's food trucks closes, a D.C. Council committee will mark-up legislation that would force the city's increasingly popular four-wheeled vendors to charge sales taxes.
This Thursday the Committee on Finance and Revenue will move on the Vendor Sales Tax Collection and Remittance Act of 2011, a bill introduced last year by Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) that would force food trucks to charge the same 10 percent sales taxes paid by brick-and-mortar restaurants. Currently, the food truck vendors pay a flat $1,500 annual fee ($375 per quarter), a fact that has frustrated many a restaurant owner who say that they're facing mobile competitors on an unfair playing field.
At the time of the bill's introduction last March, food truck operators expressed their opposition to the move without a parallel attempt to re-write the District's age-old vending laws. That re-write is currently taking place, though, and wraps up on Thursday, when a second comment period on proposed rules closes. Food truck operators have largely supported the proposed rules, while brick-and-mortar restaurants have opposed them to varying degrees . More...
UPDATE, 5 p.m.: Andrew Kline from RAMW told us that the group supports the bill. "People that sell food products in D.C. should collect sales taxes," he said.
Food trucks are becoming a vibrant contributor to the food scene in Washington, DC. We love the added vitality that food trucks bring to the DC dining scene. While food trucks may be a good thing, they need to become a part of the business community in a responsible and fair way.
DCRA's recently released proposed regulations for mobile vending does not address any negative impacts of these new businesses on neighborhoods.
Your voice needs to be heard to ensure fair management of sidewalks and streets - just as you have to get a license and permits for your sidewalk cafes, so should food trucks be assigned specific spaces with a license.
There has got to be a better way.
Tell DCRA they need to go back to the drawing board on these regulations, go at the task with a bit of common sense and a sense of FAIRNESS and listen to all sides of the issue.
Please go to fairstreetsdc.org TODAY to send your comments to DCRA to take back the streets and make them fair for all.
Food Trucks In Other Cities
February 8, 2012
Below are interesting pieces from other cities. The article from Austin is particularly interesting in that, even with restrictions against trucks in CBDs and elsewhere, they were looking to have over 1,600 trucks by the end of 2011. Austin is a little bigger than DC but not by much, so the continued and growing popularity of the trucks says a lot about sensible public space management not hampering their business.
CURRENT FOOD TRUCK VENDING REGULATIONS
Baltimore
1.) No food truck vending is allowed within the "downtown area," meaning Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the west, Centre Street on the North, Fallsway on the east, and Pratt St. on the south.
2.) In addition there is no Food Truck Vending around the stadiums.
3.) In a residential area No Street vendor of food products may stand or park his or her vehicle: 1) for more than 15 minutes at a given location; or 2) within 300 feet of any location at which the vehicle stood or parked during the preceding 48 hours.
4.) On school days from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., no street vendor of food products may stand or park her or his vehicle within 500 feet of the grounds of any building used as a public or private kindergarten, elementary school, or secondary school.
5.) No street vendor may park a motor vehicle for the purpose of selling any food product meant for immediate consumption with 300 feet of any retail business establishment that sells similar food products. More...
Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington Position on Mobile Vending
January 20, 2012
"RAMW is all for expanding food options and legalizing food trucks. Restaurant outdoor dining necessitates 18 different reviews prior to obtaining a public space license, there does appear to be a disparity between such a lengthy regulatory process and using public space almost at will," Lynne Breaux wrote during a chat last week with Washington Post Going Out Gurus and also picked up by DCist .
The 18 different reviews required prior to obtaining a public space license are:
PEPCO ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION
VERIZON Water and Sewage Authority/ Paving
DDOT Inspections Unit DDOT Policy, Planning & Sustainability Administration
Fire Department DDOT Infrastructure Project Management Administration
DC Office of Planning Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
Fine Arts Commission Americans with Disabilities Act Compliance
DCRA Fire DDOT Urban Forestry Administration
Department of Health DC Office of Tax and Revenue
Washington Gas Historic Preservation Review
RAMW Supports Mobile Vending Trucks
RAMW supports mobile vending trucks as a method of doing business in the District of Columbia. RAMW, which is itself made up mostly of independent restaurant operators, recognizes the value of trucks as an incubator of new food service concepts, that food trucks present opportunities for budding entrepreneurs, and that trucks generate excitement among many consumers. RAMW’s enthusiasm is tempered, however, by the grossly uneven playing field inherent in the current licensing and regulation of food trucks and “brick and mortar” restaurants. RAMW supports legislative and/or regulatory changes that will:
Require Sales Tax Collection By Mobile Vendors:
Food trucks enjoy a price advantage of 10%, as they are not required to collect and pay retail sales tax. The loss of tax dollars to the District is significant.
Establish Specific Sites For Licensed Mobile Vendors:
Currently, trucks operate anywhere they find a spot without any review, whatsoever, concerning their impact on foot and/or vehicular traffic and public safety. In contrast, a proposed sidewalk café at a restaurant, also on public space, is referred to 18 different agencies and organizations for review and comment. Likewise, valet parking operations, also on public space, are also subject to review to determine their impact on use of the public space. The law which authorizes vending on public space, requires that vendors be licensed for a specific site. Adherence to this statutory requirement in any regulations will allow for proper management of public space.
Assess Appropriate Fees For Use Of Public Space By Mobile Vendors:
Restaurateurs pay public space rental fees for their sidewalk cafes and rental/licensing fees for their valet parking operations, including the maximum parking meter fees attributable to the spots used for valet. Food truck vendors pay nothing for use of public space, even though all aspects of their businesses are located there.
Require Mobile Vendors To Contribute To The Community Efforts And Costs To Keep Our Streets And Parks Clean:
I. Brick and mortar restaurants are responsible for the disposal of all waste and garbage generated by their business operations, they contribute to BID fees (whether directly or through their fees to their landlord) and are required to recycle. Food truck patrons deposit trash and garbage in public waste receptacles, which are frequently maintained by the BIDs. We are advised that the BIDs haul away several trucks full of garbage above what they would have typically hauled before the proliferation of food trucks. The result is that brick and mortar restaurants, and other businesses, actually pay the expenses of removal of trash and garbage generated by food trucks through their payments of BID fees.
II. Particular areas, such as Farragut Square, attract multiple trucks during weekday lunch hours. It is not uncommon to see a dozen or more trucks parked around Farragut Square on a nice day. With that many trucks selling food in disposable wrapping the park’s trash containers quickly become full and the BID’s personnel become overwhelmed with removal. Because of the sheer volume and the delays in removal that this situation creates, roaches are becoming a problem where they never had been before. There is the very real fear that rats are not far behind.
Ensure That Mobile Vending Is A Safe Dining Option:
As of November 2011, the DC Department of Health website listed approximately 80 mobile vendors. With few exceptions, these vendors are identified by an individual’s name rather than their d/b/a (i.e., doing business as). This makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the public to check the food safety record of mobile vendors. However, even if the trucks were identifiable in this list, there are very few routine inspection reports posted as of this writing.
Petition to Support Fair & Transparent Food Truck Laws in DC
Survivability for small businesses, particularly restaurants, is especially hard in DC (we’re dead last in the nation!). Unless you’re a food truck…no sales taxes and little to no regulation. This uneven playing field makes it hard on everyone, including your customers. It is time we all are heard on this issue.
If interested, please sign this petition in support of fair and transparent food truck laws in DC. RAMW Member Pierre Abushacra from Firehook Bakery & Coffeehouse initiated the petition to help support neighborhood brick and mortar businesses. (January 7, 2011)
Proposed Vending Regulations
WASHINGTON, DC (October 12, 2010) The District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) has released proposed vending regulations “governing vendor operations, the designation of sidewalk and roadway vending locations, public markets, vending development zones, street photography, and solicitation from the public space.” See full text of the proposed regulations here
RAMW supports vending as a business opportunity and a complement to the burgeoning DC culinary scene. The positives of making vending opportunities more widely available must, however, be balanced against the needs and interests of DC’s “brick and mortar” businesses in general and restaurants in particular.
RAMW has a number of reservations about the proposed regulations outlined in a comment letter to DCRA. Of particular interest is the designation of vending locations and their potential proximity to restaurant storefronts and/or sidewalk cafes. Please make sure to comment! |
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