Groups fight vending proposal

Vendors and consumer groups, fed up with the University's latest proposal to regulate vending on and around campus, are taking matters into their own hands. The University City Vendors Alliance and the Penn Consumers Alliance have each revised the University's most recent vending ordinance proposal, and the two groups will present their versions of the ordinance to Philadelphia Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell today. The proposed revisions seek to make the ordinance less restrictive. University officials claim that vending trucks and carts block sidewalks and roads, make the campus more dangerous and reduce Penn's attractiveness to retailers who pay rent and taxes. The fight between the University and vendors and consumers began last May when Penn officially submitted its first proposal to Blackwell. The University's latest proposal, submitted to Blackwell on November 25, led to a new round of protests from the groups. The groups' revised proposals are the result of a recent meeting between Blackwell, University officials, UCVA and PCA officials and others. "When we met with the councilwoman on the 19th of December, she said we should present her with our ideas," UCVA spokesperson Scott Goldstein said. The University's proposal prohibits outdoor vending in front of existing or future retail locations, in residential areas and in locations where safety is an issue -- points neither the UCVA nor the PCA challenges. The bill would also eliminate vending on most of Locust, Walnut, Chestnut and Sansom streets. In addition, the proposal bans the use of power generators within 100 feet of a building containing classroom, office, housing or activity space, and creates a University City Vending Advisory Board to review vending regulations and recommend applicants for certain locations. The revised proposal offered by the UCVA would change many of the location regulations to "protect and preserve the public property locations that have always been our right to occupy," according to a letter Goldstein is sending to Blackwell today. The UCVA's proposal allows the use of generators, provided they are under a certain decibel level. Separately, the University has promised to build five "fresh air food plazas" on and around campus that would house 45 vendors. The PCA proposes to include the food plazas in the legislation to ensure their construction, reduce the restrictions on generators and move vending sites closer to campus. Under the University's proposal, Penn administrators select most of the members of the advisory board. But the PCA calls for them to be elected by separate constituencies, such as undergraduate and graduate students and faculty members. Despite the new challenges, Jack Shannon, the University's top economic development official, said he does "not expect to see much revision in the [University's] ordinance." Goldstein, however, said he thinks the vending ordinance will undergo major changes before Blackwell submits it to the City Council. Blackwell did not return repeated phone calls Friday. She will introduce some form of the legislation soon after City Council returns this month from holiday break, and public hearings on the bill should be held later this spring.

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