Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said she wants to have at least one more committee hearing on the issue before the full council votes on it.
After her first proposal to liberalize New Orleans' restrictive rules for food trucks ran into some flak at a committee meeting two weeks ago, City Councilwoman Stacy Head introduced a new version Thursday designed to answer some of the criticisms. The council could vote on the new proposal in as little as two weeks, though it seems likely some members will want to consider the issue longer than that.
Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said she wants to have at least one more committee hearing on the issue before the full council votes on it.
Several of the changes Head is proposing were foreshadowed at the Feb. 5 committee meeting, where both supporters and critics of allowing more food trucks spoke.
In the ordinance she introduced Thursday, Head has doubled the distance food trucks would have to maintain from regular restaurants from 50 feet to 100 feet, unless a restaurant waives the buffer zone. Under the current law, which dates to the 1950s, food trucks cannot operate within 600 feet of a restaurant.
Head also has expanded the section of the Central Business District where the trucks would be prohibited, adding the area between Poydras Street and Howard Avenue. The area bounded by Poydras, Rampart Street, Esplanade Avenue and the river would continue to be off-limits, except for the southbound side of Rampart between Canal Street and Esplanade. The three-block-long Frenchmen Street entertainment district would also be excluded.
The new ordinance continues to propose expanding the number of permits for all mobile food vendors -- including fruit peddlers, Lucky Dog sellers and others as well as full-fledged food trucks -- from 100 to 200 during a trial period, but for the first time it says the additional permits would be good for only one year unless the council votes later to make the larger number permanent.
Head also is proposing to require that food trucks have commercial general liability insurance and written proof of compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of the state Department of Health and Hospitals.
Paul Rotner, president of the New Orleans chapter of the Louisiana
Restaurant Association, told the Feb. 5 committee meeting that his group's members "do not oppose food
trucks conceptually" and believe the two types of operations "can
coexist." But he said food trucks have unfair advantages because, for
example, brick-and-mortar restaurants face stricter sanitation standards and
inspections than food trucks -- a claim disputed by leaders of the local food truck movement.
Head's ordinance would continue to increase the time food trucks may operate at one location from the present 45 minutes to four hours.
Clarkson said her concerns involve guaranteeing the public's health and safety and protecting existing restaurants, though she said she has not decided how large a buffer zone she wants to require.