Columbus City Council's Public Safety Committee Wednesday held a final public hearing on regulating food vendors in the Short North, capping five months of discussions about how to balance the needs of small business food vendors with residents concerns over increasing trash, crime and congestion.
The speakers - mostly food cart owners - reluctantly approved of the plan to push closing time back to 2:30 A.M. from 3 A.M. But they remain concerned that changes to locations, restrictions and the reservation system remain up in the air. The council committee say owners will need to apply for or renew vendor licenses by March 31st. Adam Wallace owns several food carts and truck, and has testified at all the public hearings. He says the city is rushing the regulations, pressing vendors to make significant investments before they know what spots are available and how they will be assigned.
"Because the groundwork is not done. It's like undercooked chicken; it's not ready to be served. The proposed revisions aren't even done, and won't be done by April 1st. There are 20 food truck spots allocated within the congestion zones throughout the city since 2014. There are less than 10 actually in place. How could someone reasonably expect the city to inform cart owners of essential information, before pouring out thousands of dollars in licensing fees on an incomplete blue print?"
Public Safety committee chair Emmanuel Reemy says conversations will continue. The proposed regulations will be presented to city council Monday, with a vote on March 20th. The new regulations would go into effect May 1st, and while written for the Short North entertainment area, could be applied to other neighborhoods in the future.
