It’s something that’s giving “heartburn”, and could lead to some changes for Jacksonville’s food trucks before any regulation is on the books- a pilot program letting trucks serve in Hemming Plaza.
“That’s why they call it a pilot program, we didn’t realize the impact it was going to have,” says Councilman Reggie Brown.
Brown is leading the push for new regulations on food trucks in Jacksonville, and during the second workshop on drafting legislation he raised the idea of relocating this program from Hemming Plaza. The intent of the pilot is to figure out how to “program” Hemming Plaza, but many of the “brick and mortar” restaurants in the immediate area are not happy with how the pilot has grown.
Several came to Monday’s workshop to voice this concern, as well as their thoughts on the limited foot traffic in Downtown, and therefore blow their business would take from allowing food trucks to operate in the area. The wrong way to frame the debate, according to the truckies.
“We’re not trying to impede in their business, but I think it’s about free enterprise and they [customers] make the choice of where they want to eat that day,” says Jennifer Kline with Up In Smoke BBQ.
Kline says she built her business through the Hemming Plaza pilot and would not support moving it to a new location. Other food truck operators voiced her concern that the city would be shutting the trucks down because of their success. Brown is nonetheless still considering talking with the administration about making the change, at least until he’s had time to come forward with this new legislation.
And on the bill itself, little progress was made during the workshop. While the crowd of interested truck operators, associated businesses, Downtown businesses and residents grew from the last meeting, Brown felt the City was lacking.
“They were not as prepared as I think they should have been,” he says.
During the meeting, he specifically targeted the Zoning Department and Downtown Investment Authority as areas he hoped would have brought more to the table today. A significant zoning question is still looming on whether trucks would be able to operate in office parks. Brown is also seeking active participation from the Downtown board because the ongoing debate appears to center on the core. He acknowledges, however, that not much was done to communicate with the agencies between meetings, and says that will change heading in to the next meeting.
There were some “small victories” according to Brown, including reaffirming the hours of operations for trucks and the acceptable definition. There were also some good ideas he believed were put on the table. There are also three big issues he says will need to be hammered out before the draft is finalized- zoning is joined with distance and enforcement.
The distance debate began to create tension in the room between the food trucks and the brick and mortar operators. Two key questions remain when deciding how close a truck can park to a location: whether they sell the “same type of product” and the distance between the truck and restaurant. Current city statute doesn’t define the “same type”, leading those involved to question whether a BBQ truck could park by a taco restaurant, or whether a food truck in general couldn’t park by a brick and mortar selling food. Additionally, while trucks want as little distance as possible between the locations, brick and mortars in the Downtown area who came out say the closer proximity only further impacts their business.
None of the parties involved, from trucks to restaurants to councilmen, want the debate to be one which pins the two sides against each other.
“We partner with brick and mortar restaurants to throw events, and there are brick and mortars that want us on their property, so I think there has to be a happy medium,” Kline says.
Just where that medium rests is still a sticking point, which will likely take center stage once again at the next meeting in two weeks. Brown had hoped to achieve more from this meeting, possibly even being able to finalize legislation. Instead, he says we’re now facing at least another month before a bill comes forward.
