U. seeks fresh start with public on vending law

Officials hope to provide better information about their proposal to regulate street and sidewalk vending near campus. After a tumultuous summer of negotiations with local vendors and city officials, University administrators are trying a new tack with the public in their attempt to reorganize street and sidewalk food trucks. Administrators said their goal is to restrict vending to specific sites that would boost the image of the campus, allow vendors and retail shops to co-exist and improve traffic safety and parking conditions, especially near the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. For months, the University has been working with City Council members to draft a proposed ordinance governing vending. But after a huge groundswell of opposition to the plan this summer, administrators are trying a new spin on the plan, admitting that they failed to involve the public enough when the ordinance was first proposed. Brochures explaining the ordinance will be mailed to every student and employee, and City Council President John Street and Councilwoman Janie Blackwell will be on campus Thursday to discuss the proposal. The key to the ordinance is the creation of four on-campus "fresh air food plazas," which would house about half the vendors now scattered around campus, said Jack Shannon, the University's top economic development official. The plazas would assign vendors to specific locations, so they would no longer have to vie for spaces each morning. The vendors would receive electrical hook-ups to discourage gas-powered generators, proper sewage and water lines and better lighting for about $1 month, Shannon said. The food plazas would also contain outdoor seating. Since the University would run the plazas, some vendors would expand their operation to include evening and weekend hours. Though Shannon said the proposed ordinance would benefit both vendors and the Penn community, several food truck operators said they do not want to move. "I've been here for seven years, and if I move to another location, I would lose business," said Truont Tran, owner of a fruit truck at 36th and Walnut streets."People know me on this corner." The proposed ordinance would relocate the trucks, but not eliminate any of the approximately 90 vendors in the University City area, Shannon said. Some vendors would remain on the streets and sidewalks in designated areas. "We need to strike a series of balances -- a balance between the needs of the vendors and the dining public, and a balance between accessibility and public safety here in University City," Shannon said. "I think we've made progress in achieving these balances, and we will come up with something that's a win-win situation in the community," he added. But despite the new pitch, some vendors still have reservations about the plan, accusing the University of freezing them out. "The University has continually put roadblocks in the [negotiating] process, to where our level of suspicion demands that we move at an unfortunately careful pace," said Scott Goldstein, a representative of the University City Vendor's Alliance. And although Goldstein claimed to be "highly optimistic" about the turnout of this issue, he condemned the University for its "underhanded" operations and said University officials involved in the negotiations were "arrogant early on in the process."

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