You are here

RAMW Supports Diverse Dining Options

December 19, 2010
RAMW Supports Diverse Dining Options 
 
WASHINGTON,DC (December 9, 2010) – Food Trucks are good for the city.  RAMW supportsvending as an entrepreneurial business opportunity and a complement to thevibrant DC culinary scene. We believe that mobile vendors should stay in DC andcontinue to offer more creative choices and value to consumers. The positivesof making vending opportunities more widely available, however, must bebalanced against the needs and interests of DC’s business community as a wholeand DC’s other independent culinary entrepreneurs, the “brick and mortar”restaurants in particular.

 

While thefood truck owners are entrepreneurial, so too are the approximately 91% of ourmembers who are locally owned, provide a large portion of the 48,000foodservice jobs in the city, and contribute significantly to the city coffersin sales and business taxes. 

Of particularinterest is the designation of vending locations and their potential proximityto restaurant storefronts and/or sidewalk cafes. RAMW’s concern is that foodtrucks unreasonably interfere with and disturb the patrons and operations ofretail restaurant businesses. To directly place a food truck in front of anestablishment or have it blocking a sidewalk café is extremely detrimental tothe viability, visibility, and accessibility of these businesses.

PierreAbushacra, President & Founder, Firehook Bakery states,” we would like tohave food trucks operate under fair and transparent laws and regulations.Currently the trucks create a negative impact on our business as they create avery chaotic environment on the sidewalk—playing amplified music, postingA-frame signage and creating lines-- in front of stores during peak times ofthe day.”

“Wefully believe in competition as long as there is a level playing field.  Ihope the city is able to find a way in which to regulate the food trucks toplease all the parties involved,” added Gavin Coleman, General Manager of TheDubliner.

“Mobile FoodTruck Vending laws and regulations, including tax assessments, are ripe forupdating from the ice cream truck model to the social media driven, culinaryexperience model.  Issues related to mobile vending such as food, fire,and traffic safety, as well as tax parity and effects on orderly pedestriantraffic, have to be properly considered,” commented Lynne Breaux, RAMWPresident.

Other urbanareas are also dealing with the proliferation of mobile food vending with San Francisco most recently passingreasonable and comprehensive legislation.