Vending bill shows few changes

The final bill bears close resemblance to the one Penn submitted last May. Despite countless hours of negotiations between University administrators and two ad hoc community groups, the ordinance regulating vending at Penn that was introduced to City Council this month largely resembles the first proposal Penn submitted last May. Like the original, the latest proposal bans vending from the vast majority of campus streets and sidewalks. Penn officials, expecting the bill to pass, plan to build five fresh air food plazas separate from the ordinance to accommodate about 45 vendors. There are currently about 90 vendors in the area around the University. The University recently canceled plans for two fresh air food plazas near 34th and Walnut streets after faculty and staff members complained about potential problems. Officials have yet to identify the two new locations. There are only a few significant changes in the latest ordinance, which will be debated in City Council in April. The changes affect the rules governing the Vending Advisory Board, increase the number of available University City vending slots from 75 to 100 and relax some operational restrictions. University City Vendors Alliance spokesperson Scott Goldstein said he is not surprised by the similarities between the two proposals. "The University administration creates the pretense they are looking for input from the community, [but] they don't care about anyone's interests but their own," said Goldstein, who owns the Scott's Vegetarian Cuisine truck at 36th and Walnut streets. But Jack Shannon, the University's managing director for economic development, stressed that Penn made "significant compromises." "The revised bill reflects movement on both sides to a middle ground," he said. University officials have sought to regulate vending for several years, citing safety concerns and the vendors' negative impact on Penn's ability to lure attractive retail. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who represents West Philadelphia, introduced the latest version of the ordinance to Council on February 12. The introduction came three days after Blackwell convened a meeting between University administrators and affected constituencies to negotiate a final unified proposal. Vending and consumer groups, faculty and staff members and students have accused University officials of reneging on promises they made during those negotiations, particularly on certain street vending locations to which the University allegedly agreed. The controversy over vending began last May when University officials sent Blackwell its initial ordinance proposal. But following protests by the two groups formed in response to the ordinance -- the Penn Consumer Alliance and the UCVA -- University officials withdrew their first proposal. Penn submitted its second proposal on November 25, sparking a new round of protests from the community groups. The PCA and UCVA each submitted alternate proposals to Blackwell on January 12, leading her to call the February 9 meeting. Although the earlier version only designates specific locations where vending is banned -- whereas the current one specifies where vending is allowed and says it is banned everywhere else -- the results are largely the same. In both proposals, street vending is banned on Walnut and Spruce streets from 33rd to 41st streets and on Market Street from 36th to 38th streets. Both versions also ban both street and sidewalk vending on many major University City thoroughfares, including parts of the following streets: 34th Street, Spruce Street, Walnut Street, Sansom Street and 40th Street, as well as many other blocks. The current version of the proposal goes further than its predecessor in banning vending on all of Walnut Street, Chestnut Street and 36th Street. Vending would also be banned on all of 33rd Street except for three sidewalk vending locations between Walnut Street and Smith Walk. But the current version allows street vending on Market Street between 34th and 36th streets, far from the center of campus. Both ordinances ban the use of electrical generators with internal combustion engines, although the current version allows the vendors a year to find a new power source instead of instituting the changes immediately. The composition and practices of the Vending Advisory Board changed from the first to the latest proposal. In the first proposal, the board had one vending, two business, three non-profit, one neighborhood and two other representatives, for a total of nine. The current proposal is more specific, with five vendors; two business representatives; three representatives from non-profit organizations; three members appointed by the University Council representing students, faculty and staff; and two from neighborhood groups such as the Spruce Hill Community Association. In addition, the new proposal does not guarantee that if a vendor is issued a license, he or she will be able to vend at a specific location for the extent of the license.

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