EDITORIAL: Restrictions for U. City vending

The University, the vendors and the consumers must get set to compromise their own agendas. But all three parties -- Penn, the University City Vendors Alliance and the Penn Consumers Alliance -- must be prepared for compromise. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, for instance, will never support a proposal driven solely by University initiative. The most contentious portion of discussion thus far pertains to the issue of where vendors will be allowed to operate under the ordinance. Surprisingly, there has been no disagreement that vending should be prohibited in front of existing or future retail locations, in residential areas and where safety is a factor -- such as in front of the entrance to the Hospital for the University of Pennsylvania. But after restricting all areas that fall under these categories, the question arises as to what spaces remain. Is the University's wish to further eliminate vending on most of Locust, Walnut, Chestnut and Sansom streets superfluous? Or is such a measure necessary to prevent vagueness and to facilitate enforcement of the ordinance? For both safety and aesthetic reasons, the planning groups should do everything in their power to ease the regulatory process. The University, however, must balance enforcement issues against the needs of the community -- being careful not to overstep its bounds. Having Penn administrators, for instance, appoint members of the proposed vending advisory group would be insulting to the constituent groups. Each group is fully capable of responsibly appointing its own representatives. Penn's efforts are well-directed in trying to ban power generators within 100 feet of a building containing classroom, office or housing space. The vendors and consumers' proposal to allow generators that don't exceed a certain decibel level doesn't address the safety issues generators present. In fact, the regulations should be even more stringent than those which the University has proposed. We do not want another incident like that which occurred two years ago when a vending truck's generator exploded outside of the Annenberg School. Since kerosene generators pose a great safety risk -- even when they are not near a building, they could cause damage if hit by an oncoming car -- they should be banned altogether. Vending has long been an integral part of Penn's culture. The carts and trucks are appreciated throughout University City for their convenience and variety. But some regulation is needed. The University, the vendors and the consumer alliance should work together to hammer out a proposal as quickly as possible.