Below is the Food Truck Association’s response to DCRA’s latest proposed vending regulations.  The regulations were supposed to update the books to accommodate modern food trucks, which are being held to old ice cream truck rules.  As you can see, the new regulations essentially keep the old ice cream truck rules on the books, while limiting the number of trucks that can serve in the most popular spots.  The 3 bullet points below can be used to formulate your own feedback to DCRA challenging the proposed regs.  Public comments are due by 5pm on April 8.  Comments can be sent to Mr. Helder Gil, Legislative Affairs Specialist, Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, at  DCVendingRegs@dc.gov.  (direct DCRA link)

WASHINGTON, DC – Food trucks will become illegal in most of downtown if Mayor Vincent Gray’s proposed new regulations are passed, said the Food Truck Association of Metropolitan of Washington, who today released a map showing the impact of the proposed regulations.”The proposed regulations have one outcome – less choice and competition for District resident’s dollars and less food trucks just where residents want them the most,” said Doug Povich, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Food Truck Association and Co-owner of Red Hook Lobster Pound-DC. “The proposed parking restrictions have little to do with protecting public health and safety, and everything to do with restricting competition and consumer choice.”Mayor Gray has proposed severe restrictions on where food trucks can serve customers, including:

• Restricting food trucks in the most popular locations – with the exception of a limited number of lottery-assigned designated spaces;
• Banning food trucks from serving from within 500 feet of lottery-assigned spaces;
• Banning food trucks from serving where there is less than 10 feet of unobstructed sidewalk.

A map by the Food Truck Association shows the proposed regulations would make most of the Central Business District off-limits to food trucks – highlighted in red on the map.

“Red means dead.” “Food trucks who do not win a lottery spot will have few places to go,” said Povich. “The bottom line is that, if enacted, the proposed regulations will severely limit consumer choice, force many food trucks out of business, and put many food-truck employees out of work.

“Simply put, these regulations will hurt the city,” Povich said. “The District will lose hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue. And DC residents and workers will be left with fewer choices and less opportunities for their dollars.”

For more on Mayor Gray’s proposed food truck regulations, please visit www.DCFoodTrucks.org.