EDITORIAL: Next step: city vending ordinance

In order to address vending issues, the University needs both the food plazas and a city ordinance. The food plazas are a good idea as they provide vendors with electrical, sewage and water lines. Students will have places to sit outdoors, and the plazas will be convenienty scattered around campus. But without the ordinance, there will be no way to prevent new vendors from taking the places of the ones that move into the plazas. And if more vendors move to University City once the food plazas are filled then the plazas have not solved the problem of regulating vendors. Food trucks pose safety threats to students and take up parking places. And if the ordinance is not pursued, there will be no way to prevent vendors from placing their trucks or carts in areas where they become safety concerns -- such as the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania emergency exit. The food plazas are not the only answer to the vending issues around campus. And if administrators want to find a permanent vending solution then they need to follow through with the city ordinance.