GUEST COLUMNIST: Vending creates unlevel playing field

I wanted to be a part of the campus community, and four years ago, I bought the Baskin Robbins franchise on the 3900 block of Walnut Street. I reinforced my commitment to the area and moved to University City. Being a part of Penn is really a thrill for me. My business supports nine employees, all of whom live in West Philadelphia or Center City. We're here year-round, and on some days my payroll expense actually exceeds revenue intake. But I've made an investment in this community, and, like many of the other businesses, I'm here for the long term. Imagine my rage, then, when the Mr. Softee truck pulls in randomly, parks in front of my store, blocking pedestrians' views to the Baskin Robbins glass storefront, and sells ice cream products to the very customer I'm set up to serve. How would you guess my colleagues running neighboring businesses feel when the barbeque vendor grills spare ribs outside of McDonald's corner location, when the flower vendor peddles fresh flowers in front of Campus Market or when Cinemagic faces competition from the vendor selling bootleg videotapes? How can we run a business on a daily basis when our competition can just drive in on a whim? I applaud the University's initiatives to control vending, to make the neighborhood safer and to develop a viable economy in this area. We need that. No one is suggesting putting the vendors out of business. Rather we are trying to improve our community and, for businesses, to compete in a fair playing field. The 40th Street Area Business Association, a collection of merchants within one block of 40th Street, recently formed to contribute to this overall objective. We want to improve the lighting and the look of the storefronts. We want to upgrade the area to encourage shoppers so that more businesses will be attracted to the neighborhood. During recent years, foot traffic has decreased, vacancies have increased and sales have been flat. I've actually been forced to decrease prices of certain items by about 10 to 12 percent. Local businesses employ folks from the neighborhood (my monthly payroll is about $8,000); have substantial overhead expenses, such as rent and utilities (for me that monthly total is $5,000) and comply with sales tax laws. Those of us in the food service business also have to comply with stringent Health Department regulations. While I don't wish any of the vendors ill will, I do hope for an end to the inequities that my colleagues and I face: · Food service businesses comply with fair but tough regulations imposed by the City of Philadelphia Health Department. For example, they require that I maintain a three-compartment dishwashing system. I wonder where vending cart operators wash their pots and pans. I've seen some questionable and unethical sanitation procedures practiced by vendors, such as dumping waste water into the city sewer system and disposing of trash in University dumpsters. · The University has made the fresh air food plazas amazingly attractive business opportunities for vendors -- $1 per month rent and utility charge for five years! Who could pass up such a deal? My neighbor, Winfield "Wink" Hall, owner of Gaeta's College Pizza would have loved such an offer when he signed a lease only seven months ago. Instead, now he fears the arrival of a pizza truck or other vendor selling food that competes with his $1.26 slice. · Vendors have no ties to the community and make no apparent efforts to create jobs, which this community desperately needs. Even in extreme situations, namely some of the recent robberies at local businesses, no vendor, to my knowledge, has stepped forward to aid or provide eye-witness accounts for the victimized shopkeepers. · Do vendors pay sales tax? Remember, sales tax directly benefits Philadelphia public schools. · As both a resident and business owner in this City neighborhood, I pay dearly for parking. While some Philadelphia Parking Authority representatives do fairly ticket vehicles at expired meters, I've seen plenty more who walk by vendors' trucks parked at expired meters without blinking an eye. I've also seen vendors put a quarter into the meter and turn the dial to the yellow flag. Baskin Robbins recently offered me an opportunity to move across the street to Hamilton Village into a bigger, more visible space where I would be able to sell more products, hire more people, and grow. I was forced to turn it down because of the tremendous risks I weighed. Food trucks, some more than six feet high, block store fronts, which not only hurts business, but also, it has been suggested, may contribute to conducive crime environments. While the anticipated arrival of 14 food carts and trucks that will be located at the 40th and Locust streets fresh air food plaza will pose new challenges for my business, I do not advocate eliminating vending altogether. Temporary vendors can serve a community by supplementing the retail businesses which have made huge investments to the neighborhood in so many ways, including hiring area residents. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell has bent over backwards for the vendors, and from my perspective, she is treated with disrespect and contempt. She should be applauded for her efforts, and vendors ought to be grateful that she has championed their cause. I resent the way vendors, most of whom do not live in this district, treat my City Council representative. I work hard, and I resent the unfair competition that vendors create when they drive into our community from Delaware County, South Jersey or elsewhere where street and sidewalk vending is prohibited entirely. As a resident, I care about this neighborhood, and I want businesses to thrive, my neighbors to have gainful employment opportunities, and visitors to feel safe and encouraged to shop and dine here. Enough is enough. It is time for us to put an end to the emotional, reactionary approach to the vending issue and start dealing with the realities that confront University City and the surrounding area.