City sets date for vending hearing

Public hearings on the proposed ordinance are scheduled for April 14. Less than two weeks from today, the controversy over a proposed City Council ordinance regulating vending on and around campus is expected to finally come to a head. And it will only have taken a year. Council announced yesterday that the much-anticipated public hearings for the ordinance will be held at City Hall April 14. At the hearings, supporters and critics of the proposal are likely to air their views on issues ranging from the ordinance's restrictions on vending locations to when its various sections would go into effect. Penn's proposal to build five food plazas on and around campus to house displaced vendors will also be discussed, although the idea is separate from the ordinance. The entire Council will hear testimony from all sides of the vending issue, including representatives from the University administration and the two ad-hoc groups formed in response to the ordinance, the Penn Consumer Alliance and the University City Vendors Alliance. After the hearings, Council will decide what action to take on the ordinance -- action that could theoretically include a vote on the ordinance. It is unclear how much the ordinance will change as a result of the hearings. City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who represents West Philadelphia and has been working on the ordinance, said last week she thought there would be "some changes" in the location restrictions. But Penn Vice President of Government, Community and Public Affairs Carol Scheman said yesterday that after the long process of negotiations to formulate the ordinance, she did "not have any expectations for major changes." The most recently proposed version of the ordinance bans vendors from most streets and sidewalks in the area, prohibits electrical generators one year after its enactment and establishes a Vending Advisory Board which will review vending regulations and recommend applicants for certain locations. The controversy over the ordinance began last May when Penn sent Blackwell its initial ordinance proposal. The PCA and the UCVA have sought to make the bill less restrictive. Officials from the UCVA and the PCA plan to testify at the hearings and are encouraging others to participate. UCVA spokesperson Scott Goldstein said more than 300 students, faculty members and staff have told him of their willingness to testify. According to Scheman, a University representative will also testify at the hearing. She declined to name that person. In anticipation of the hearings, officials from the PCA and the UCVA have been lobbying various members of City Council to explain their opposition to the bill, according to Goldstein and PCA member Jason Eisner. The food plazas are also expected to be discussed at the hearings. Blackwell said on Thursday that there still might be "one or two changes" in the actual locations of those plazas. Scheman said yesterday, however, that all the plaza locations finalized last week will remain the same, but additional food plazas might be built if they prove successful. The hearings will be held at 10 a.m. in room 400, Council's main meeting hall.

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