New Food Truck Rules Become Law

Food truck operators will soon officially need to follow new rules when they vend downtown, near the hospital on Cedar Street, and on Long Wharf and Sachem Street.

Alders Monday night unanimously approved an ordinance that now declares these four areas special vending districts. That means the food trucks and carts in those designated areas will have to pay a premium and observe new guidelines to either maintain or obtain their spots, or find somewhere else in the city to sell their food.

East Rock Alder Jessica Holmes, chairwoman of the Legislative Committee, told her fellow alders that the ordinance overhaul ​“resolves public health and safety issues, allocates city resources for consistent and fair enforcement, ensures the legality of all current mobile vending areas, and establishes a simple and fair system for assigning parking and sidewalk vending spaces in tightly defined areas in the city. “

She said the new ordinance ​“balances the interests of brick and mortar establishments with local vendors.”

The new ordinance does the following:

• Create four new Special Vending Districts: one on Long Wharf Drive, one downtown, one on Cedar Street by Yale-New Haven Hospital, and one on Sachem Street by Yale’s Ingalls Rink. These districts legalize a number of vendors who currently operate illegally because of zoning restrictions.

• Establish a process for those interested in vending in the Special District to apply for a site license every two years. Current vendors in these locations will be ​“grandfathered” into a site at their current location. New vendors will be selected by lottery, and those who do not receive a space because of high demand will be placed on a waiting list for each district.

• Enable the city to collect two types of annual licensing fees: $1,000 for pushcarts or stands (which can only occupy sidewalks) and $2,500 for trucks or trailer carts (which can occupy only parking spaces). Vendors at Long Wharf also will be charged $500 a year for electricity costs.

• Through the collection of license fees, the city will hire a full-time vending enforcement officer, as well as provide for periodic cleanup of the Special Vending Districts.

The ordinance, which has been in the works for two years, goes into effect in three of the four locations July 1. Steve Fontana, the city’s deputy economic development director, said that the food carts that will be vending on the sidewalk near Ingalls Rink will have until Aug. 15 because they will be making the most change in moving off of Yale’s property.

Fontana said for the food cart and truck operators who vend outside of the Special Vending District nothing will change except that there will be a tightened regulatory system. That means that all vendors will now be required to carry insurance, and they risk losing their license if they are found to have verbally harassed or intimidated someone. The fee structure applies only to those who wish to remain in the four areas that will become the Special Vending District.

“It’s going to take two or three months for the system to be in place, but hopefully they’ll start to see small changes like more signage and marking on pavement,” he said. ​“We’ll create an application process for spaces for those new vendors. Ultimately, our goal is to create a public and transparent lottery for any new spaces. Ideally we’d like to do that in May, but it may be June. Clearly, it will be before July 1 and Aug. 15 on Sachem Street.”

Fontana credited alders of the Legislative Committee, particularly those from the Hill and Dixwell, with helping to refine the ordinance and finally getting it across the finish line. He said a few infrastructure projects are ongoing at Long Wharf, including sidewalk work by the state, and ultimately new light stanchions, and Big Belly solar trash compactors and port-o-lets.

He said the city will engage in outreach with vendors through local media, social media, its website and public noticing. Fontana said that the city will reach out to any vendor who has participated in the discussions that led up to the ordinance by text and email to update them on next steps. Those who want to know more or be kept up-to-date on what’s next can contact Fontana .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or by phone at 203 – 946-5891.

The city’s popular food truck festival will be back this year on June 3. The goal, depending on how quickly the lottery process is in place, is to allow those trucks to participate in the festival without having to pay for a space. The festival, which will be one day this year instead of two, will coincide with the second year of the Dragon Boat Regatta and include a bicycle exhibition, more musical entertainment and craft vendors.