City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: NOVEMBER 5, 2014
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER/s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Introduction and First Reading. Consideration. Passage on First Reading of an Ordinance to Amend and Reordain Section 9-15-18 (Expiration) of Chapter 15 (Food Truck Vendors) of Title 9 (Licensing and Regulation) of the Code of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, 1981, as Amended to Extend the Food Truck Pilot Program for an Additional Two Months.
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ISSUE: On October 28, 2014, City Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance (Attachment 1) to extend the end date of the Food Truck Pilot Program ("the Program") from October 31, 2015 to December 31, 2015. This ordinance accomplishes that change.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council introduce the ordinance and set it for public hearing and adoption on November 15, 2014 to adopt the attached ordinance to extend the expiration date of the Food Truck Pilot Program from October 31, 2015 to December 31, 2015.
DISCUSSION: As discussed in the docket memo to City Council dated October 22, 2014 (Attachment 2), the Food Truck Pilot Program was adopted by City Council on May 17, 2014 and took effect on July 1, 2014. Ordinance #4875 is included as Attachment 3 for your information and review. When establishing the Food Truck Pilot Program, City Council set an expiration date of October 31, 2015 for the Program. The Health Department permits run on an annual cycle. Therefore, the Food Truck Pilot Program vendor permit also must run on the same annual schedule in order for the necessary permit to be valid at the same time. As a result, the first year of the pilot program permit was a partial year, from July 1 (or when the permit was applied for) through December 31, 2014. The annual permit must then be reapplied for on January 1, 2015 for the following year. We believe that an important part of evaluating the program will be for the food trucks to have the opportunity to have a permit for a full year, particularly since some of the feedback we have received is that some food trucks chose not to apply for the permit this year due to the fact that it was a partial permit. Therefore, we request that the expiration date of the program be extended to December 31, 2014 so that the permits issued in January 2015 will be full year permits.
Staff has started to gather information to evaluate the Pilot Program including, but not limited to, feedback from the community through Action Alexandria, records of complaints registered, number of permits issued, costs incurred by the City in administering the program, and fees generated from the Program. Staff believes that now that the Program is in place and there has been more education to the food truck industry as well as the community regarding how the program works, the next year will be an important year in gathering the information necessary to make recommendations to City Council regarding whether a full, permanent program should be established. Additionally, staff will work with Action Alexandria on a plan for surveying the community on various aspects of the Program at various times during the year. We hope to use this tool both to receive feedback from the community as well as to educate the community on the Food Truck Pilot Program so that they can experience it for themselves.
As City Council is aware, in 2013-2014 a Food Truck Advisory Group made up of stakeholders with an interest in how the food truck operations are regulated in the City of Alexandria was initiated to help inform staff regarding community opinions regarding this matter. On October 23, 2014, staff informed this group about the October 28, 2014 update to City Council and recommendation of the extension of the Program. On October 29, 2014, staff informed this group that City Council directed staff to prepare the ordinance extending the Program by two months and informing them that there will be a public hearing on the matter where they can express any comments they may have. Staff will report any feedback or comments it receives from this group as well as from the larger community regarding this matter.
Staff recommends that the information gathering phase of this pilot program continue through late fall 2015 until the end of the high season for the food trucks. At that time, staff will prepare a report to City Council regarding the information gathered including a recommendation regarding whether, based on that information, a full and permanent program should be explored. If City Council decides at that time to explore a full and permanent program, an advisory group will be appointed to discuss the information gathered from the Pilot Program as well as experiences of other communities and any other information necessary to evaluate the necessary regulations for a full program.
CONCLUSION: While the Pilot Program has started off slowly, staff is hopeful that now that the food truck industry and the community are more aware of the Program, it will pick up in the next year. This will allow staff to gather necessary and useful information to evaluate the Food Truck Program.
FISCAL IMPACT: The extension of the Program through the end of 2015 will allow the permit for 2015 to be a full year permit rather than a prorated year. Therefore, if City Council approves this extension, the permit fee collected will be the full fee. If City Council does not approve the extension, the permit fee will be prorated for a partial year.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Food Truck Pilot Program Ordinance
Attachment 2: City Council Docket Memo Dated October 22, 2014
Attachment 3: Food Truck Pilot Program Ordinance #4875 adopted by City Council May 17, 2014
STAFF:
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
Joanna C. Anderson, Assistant City Attorney
Karen Snow, Assistant City Attorney
Jack Browand, Division Chief, Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities
Alex Dambach, Division Chief, Department of Planning and Zoning
Diane Gittins, Captain, Police Department
Rachel Stradling, Environmental Health Supervisor, Health Department