Food Truck Setback: What Can Be Done?

I agree. I have a call in to the IPL to see about talking it over myself. Before I start bashing the government I want to see what they will do first. My first instinct is that they will not deviate it all from the ordinances the way they are written but they might. One never knows.

Being ex military I will escalate things up the chain of command properly before I start getting nasty. You catch more flies with honey n all...

P.S. my wife wanted me to add that flies pair very well with honey.

The story is getting some legs - Jake's on it!

http://thevillevoice.com/2011/04/05/east-market-street-is-exploding-with-new-options/

Robin - your thoughts?

Well, Marsha got the ball rolling in January ...
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/my-lo ... ustry-wish

But of course it wouldn't hurt to beat the publicity drum still more.

My instinct right now is that if we can pull together a small, competent group and get Mayor Fischer to sit down and talk over the situation, the scene in places like Portland and Austin, and enlisted on the side of justice and right, that might be the quickest and most effective way to push through to a happy conclusion.

But if the governmental route doesn't work, then the media route would certainly be worth trying.

Count me in!

The story is getting some legs - Jake's on it!

http://thevillevoice.com/2011/04/05/east-market-street-is-exploding-with-new-options/

heh heh I wonder who tipped him off . . .

Got a call from Mayor Fischers Press Secretary today setting up a meeting with me for in the morning to talk about our antiquated permitting system.

Amazing. I hadn't even called anyone yet. I am taking today off to get my ducks in a row for in the morning. This is the first time in my life people have approached me instead of me having to jump mountain after mountain to get somewhere... I am astounded.

The story is getting some legs - Jake's on it!

http://thevillevoice.com/2011/04/05/east-market-street-is-exploding-with-new-options/

heh heh I wonder who tipped him off . . .

He gets results. That's for sure.

Got a call from Mayor Fischers Press Secretary today setting up a meeting with me for in the morning to talk about our antiquated permitting system.

Amazing. I hadn't even called anyone yet. I am taking today off to get my ducks in a row for in the morning. This is the first time in my life people have approached me instead of me having to jump mountain after mountain to get somewhere... I am astounded.

Thinking here about the thread subject line. You people were on the right track all along. Have to get past the policy enforcers to the policy makers. Good luck tomorrow, Matt! Make sure you position all your argumentative points in regards to what Louisville has to gain from policy changes.

Got a call from Mayor Fischers Press Secretary today setting up a meeting with me for in the morning to talk about our antiquated permitting system.

Amazing. I hadn't even called anyone yet. I am taking today off to get my ducks in a row for in the morning. This is the first time in my life people have approached me instead of me having to jump mountain after mountain to get somewhere... I am astounded.

Good luck Matt This will certainly be a good test of whether Mayor Fischer really cares about the people of Louisville and small businesses that want to develop here. Hopefully he is, instead of just out for himself and his friends like the previous administration. I certainly think the fact they contacted you instead of you contacting them is a positive sign.

Yes I think its a good sign too. I am taking all the good advice I am getting and organizing it on paper. I have a tendency to be a little 'all over the place' when I talk and I want to make sure I give concise statements and answers.

I appreciate all the support and advice. I am definately taking it.

Thanks

I dont have much to add here other than I was in Austin a couple weeks ago and the street food scene there is huge. One of the things I noticed was they have "trailer parks", lots set up around town that were filled with various food trucks. When I was there these lots were packed with customers, granted we were there during SXSW, but the locals we were with said these "parks" were always hopping.

Portland does something similar.

Portland and Austin are two towns that Louisville could legitimately hold up as a model. In this scene, we'd be smart to do that. It doesn't have a damn thing to do with New York.

They certainly were weird before Louisville too.

Louisville was quite possibly weird before either of them was founded. A different weird, however.

@Matt Davis
I guess I didn't do a good enough job y'day pointing out I wasn't talking about you. It seems you're being a model Gastro-citizen. If the city reviews its policies, you might even want to suggest to them formulating it in such a way as to prevent out of town, transient, fly-by-nighters from setting up quick shop in town and then disappearing when the fad appeal of their wares wears off.

Frankly I still think downtown should be off limits for street vendors (I know, I know, that's not your target). Still though, the city needs to be mindful it doesn't open a pandora's box with looser regulations. If I were them, I wouldn't let a street vendor within 20 blocks of any historical building which is in need of restoration and/or under threat of being torn down. If the city's problem is that developers claim there's "supposedly" not enough demand to rationalize renovation of downtown heritage buildings, it makes no sense whatsoever to steer local, entrepreneurial talent into vans and trucks which of course have no heritage value at all. Find a way to marry entrepreneurs with developers and keep those buildings up.

FWIW Matt, I have plenty of experience with street vendors. Our NY office is on 6th Ave and 52nd if that gives you some idea. Also, I never liked the Dead. More of a Stones guy.

Good luck.

@Matt Davis

FWIW Matt, I have plenty of experience with street vendors. Our NY office is on 6th Ave and 52nd if that gives you some idea. Also, I never liked the Dead. More of a Stones guy.

Good luck.

Well they all outlived Garcia so Ill submit to the Stones. No hard feelings Dan, I've been on a bit of a soapbox lately defending my "roach coach" from quite a few people and I end up not reading the actual statement and just auto defending. I agree with the regulations regarding WHO can get permitted for such a business. Criminal background checks, driving record checks, job history, character references, etc. Just like a job application only actually follow up on it. I have been in EMS for 15 years, I have no issues sumbitting any of that along with blood and urine if necessary.

Got a lot of good feedback and ideas on paper today, thanks everyone. The general concensus is that as long as you boast about how it will bring revenue to the city then they should be all over it. I got that and several other ways it benefits.

I've been doing some looking around online and it appears many cities are struggling with the same issues. Even some of the ones we say don't have problems really do. Here are some examples that people might be interested in reading:

How some cities are handling the regulating of food trucks; http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/us/12 ... gewanted=2
Cincinnati; http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/cdap/pages/-3837-/
Salt Lake City; http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article- ... e-air.html
Washington, DC, procedures to start up; http://www.dc.gov/DC/DCRA/For+Business/ ... k+Business
How not to do it, Chicago; http://theunqualifiedeconomist.wordpres ... k-edition/

Good meeting on Wednesday Matt. And know that Bill Bayersdorfer ran a smoked meat operation that moved, a few years back, around the city before Willy B's . It's possible he may have some insight. He towed large grills from place to place including Heine Bros. on Chenoweth Lane.