Laserfiche WebLink
File Number: 14-194 <br />popularity of these events has not satisfied the demand for additional food options in San <br />Leandro. <br />The most frequent complaint from interviews with area business leaders in the Next <br />Generation Workplace District Study is the lack of desirable dining options in the industrial <br />area. At the February 11, 2014 City Council meeting, the Office of Business Development <br />presented the Next Generation Workplace District Study Action Plan . The Action Plan <br />proposes to incentivize pop-up restaurants or alternatively mobile food trucks to increase food <br />options Citywide, especially in the industrial areas. However, while preparing the Action Plan <br />and by promoting events such as the Downtown Street Eats, City staff found the existing <br />regulations to be ill-equipped, outdated with current law and in many cases cost prohibitive for <br />food truck businesses. <br />Analysis <br />According to the National Restaurant Association , the growth of mobile food trucks will soar in <br />the next five years, generating up to $2.7 billion in revenue nationally by 2017-up from $650 <br />million in 2012. Nationwide, cities are seeing more food trucks in operation, some in <br />unexpected places like office and industrial parks , where zoning ordinances typically preclude <br />or make it costly to establish restaurants. While ice cream trucks and job-site lunch wagons <br />haven’t disappeared, they are increasingly being joined by gourmet mobile food vendors. <br />Historically, selling wares and food products on the street, though not prohibited, was <br />considered a negative or an unwanted business. Strict peddler and solicitor ordinances were <br />created to ensure the public’s safety and welfare from potential nuisances created by outdoor <br />sales, door-to-door sales and street vending. Fingerprinting, background checks, costly <br />license fees and permits are the foundation of almost all peddler/solicitor ordinances. <br />However, the new wave of mobile food vending does not belong in the category of peddler or <br />solicitor. To keep up with this rapidly evolving industry , many cities across the Bay Area and <br />the nation have upgraded their regulations, removing fingerprinting requirements, lowering or <br />flattening fees, and clearly outlining permitted locations and separations. <br />Regulatory Framework <br />The City’s ability to regulate vehicular vending on public streets is limited by state law . The <br />California Vehicle Code (CVC) preempts local parking regulations except as expressly <br />authorized by state law. CVC Section 22455 provides that vendors must bring their vehicle to <br />a complete stop and be legally parked before vending, and further gives cities the ability to <br />regulate “the type of vending and the time, place, and manner of vending upon any street” for <br />reasons of public safety. On private and public property, as opposed to public streets, the City <br />may create appropriate regulations in the interest of protecting public health, safety and <br />welfare. <br />Under another item on tonight’s agenda , the proposed zoning amendments introduce the <br />mobile food vending land use category and the permitted zoning categories on private and <br />public property. The proposed ordinance attached to this staff report adds the supplemental <br />use and public street regulations, as well as permitting requirements, to the San Leandro <br />Municipal Code with reference to the City’s Zoning Code . <br />Proposed Mobile Food Vending Ordinance Outline <br />Page 2 City of San Leandro Printed on 5/27/2014