Vending ordinance vote postponed until fall

The controversial proposal is assigned to City Council's Rules Committee, construction on Sansom Commons begins. At the suggestion of Councilwoman Janie Blackwell, the city clerk's office announced this week that City Council will not vote on the vending ordinance -- which Blackwell introduced two weeks ago -- until the fall. The ordinance would limit and reorganize street and sidewalk vending around campus by creating specified vending locations on 34th, Walnut and Spruce streets. The proposed vending areas would include lighting and seating. The ordinance is currently assigned to the Council's Rules Committee, but no hearing date has been set. The ground-breaking of the restaurants and shops of Sansom Commons will begin next Friday as scheduled, but the vendors displaced by the construction will not benefit from the vending areas proposed in the Memorandum of Understanding that was attached to the ordinance. "The University is not willing to put the amount of resources necessary in when there is not agreement," said Carol Scheman, Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs. But University City Vendors Alliance spokesperson Scott Goldstein said he was pleased with the postponement of the ordinance. "I'm happy [the ordinance] has been held off until after the summer," he said. "[The Alliance members] are opposed to the bill as it stands, but I am actually very optimistic that everything will work out." Goldstein added that negotiations between the vendors and the University would continue because it is in "both parties interests to try to work [their differences] out now." But he said that if the vendors do not reach an agreement with the University over the proposed ordinance, they will draft their own proposal for presentation to Council. And attorney Robert Sugarman is ready to defend the vendors if the necessity arises, although the vendors have incurred no legal fees so far. Scheman said that the University decided to agree with the postponement and head Blackwell's advice to wait until the fall before pressing ahead with the ordinance. "The Council probably wants to further examine what Center City has done with vending," she said. "But I know they understand the need for prompt regulation." Scheman added that "it would have been better for everyone if the ordinance was passed" but said she trusted Blackwell's decision. And Penn Consumers' Alliance to Save Food Trucks spokesperson Matt Ruben said he was pleased with Council's decision. "The Alliance will use this opportunity to see that everyone on and off-campus has the chance to voice their opinions," he said. Ruben added that the group will continue its lobbying efforts through dialogues with Council members, vendors and community residents.