Food Trucks in Jax: DVI Board Votes No

[Adam W]

DT streets are plenty wide enough.

That's hogwash unless you eliminate metered parking places, loading zones, other no parking zones, etc. Bay Street and Broad Street may be more than two traffic lanes wide, but I can't think of another one in the core area where most of the workers are. Not Forsyth, Adams, Monroe, Duval, Julia, Hogan (barely two lanes), or Laura.

You wouldn't need to eliminate metered spaces - you could just allow them to park in those spaces without having to pay. Same thing with loading zones.

Where there's a will, there's a way. It should be the City of Jax that opposes it b/c of parking and logistics. That makes sense. And it should be up to the city to help figure out a way to make it work.

DVI should support it and use its clout with the city to help make it happen. Not oppose it outright because of reasons it has nothing to do with.

[blandman]

That's hogwash unless you eliminate metered parking places, loading zones, other no parking zones, etc. Bay Street and Broad Street may be more than two traffic lanes wide, but I can't think of another one in the core area where most of the workers are. Not Forsyth, Adams, Monroe, Duval, Julia, Hogan (barely two lanes), or Laura.

Forsyth, Adams, Monroe or Duval? All four streets have parking on both sides and two wide lanes of traffic!  Plenty of room...like someone said earlier, allow the trucks to park in the street parking spaces.  It seems crazy that a city that has next to nothing in the way of foot traffic, has nice wide downtown streets, and ample vacant & surface lots would need to be convinced of this.  Strange.

[futurejax]

Why do downtown cafes have to pay a $150 outdoor sidewalk seating fee anyway?  Do downtown leaders want people actually downtown or do they not?  These rules seem to be delusional and based on some idea from a dream that there are too many crowds and lots of chaos downtown so there needs to be more rules/fees/structure in order to maintain order and prevent over-crowding.  Same problem with their backwards parking policy.  Why not just build a gigantic wall with gated entry around the entire core charging people for the right to go where nobody wants to be.

[Ernest Street]

These decision makers are Insulated from actual life activities that most of us consider normal and urban. Downtown is dirty and icky for GOB club members and their wives.
A little travel to some other place than North Carolina would do them wonders!
(Kinda reminds me of when GW was amazed at a grocery store Laser barcode scanner!)

[Garden guy]

This is just one more example of good ole boys with their good ole conservative ideas and minds...welcome to jacksonville.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I am not opposed to food trucks, but tell me where you would have them park - specifics, please - name of street and between what two intersecting streets.

The most obvious to me would be Monroe St. at Hogan in the dead zone between the Ed Ball and . or on the Sidewalk at Monroe & Laura at Hemming Park.

Pearl and Water St would also make sense.  There's a really busy bus hub and then CSX, 550 Water St & the IRS.

[thelakelander]

I stopped in Hemming Plaza earlier today to take some pictures.  This block of Duval, between Laura and Hogan, is one of several that would work.

[Bill Hoff]

I'm looking forward to the monthly food truck event Downtown. DVI's memo described how Tampa successfully established this event and I hope to see it Downtown soon.

Hemming Plaza would be perfect.

[thelakelander]

Did they actually say they were hosting one?  It be cool if they were.  It read to me that they would allow the hosting of a monthly event.  As of yesterday's event, none of the trucks there were aware that DVI would be hosting a monthly event.  Btw, another great potential designated location for trucks would be Adams or Pearl Streets in the vicinity of the new courthouse's green space.  The closest downtown restaurant is a three block walk away from the new courthouse's main entrance.



A similar public space in downtown Toronto.

[Bill Hoff]

Did they actually say they were hosting one?  It be cool if they were.  It read to me that they would allow the hosting of a monthly event.  As of yesterday's event, none of the trucks there were aware that DVI would be hosting a monthly event.  Btw, another great potential designated location for trucks would be Adams or Pearl Streets in the vicinity of the new courthouse's green space.  The closest downtown restaurant is a three block walk away from the new courthouse's main entrance.

This is what was stated in the memo:

2) We also believe a monthly event held Downtown during the week at lunchtime â€" similar
to Tampa’s Food Truck Fiesta â€" would encourage people to come into Downtown and build
excitement for our Downtown without significantly impacting existing businesses who have
committed to our Downtown’s growth and improvement.

Here's info on Tampa's Food Truck Fiesta:

http://www.facebook.com/MayorsFoodTruckFiesta

&

http://www.tampagov.net/dept_mayor/foodtruck.asp

&

http://www.tampagov.net/appl_tampa_announcements/ViewRelease.asp?ReleaseID=9007

[thelakelander]

We actually documented Tampa's event in the months leading up to the Jax Truckies event.  There's a Mayor Buckhorn quote in one of the articles about Jax Truckies from last week:

In the city of Tampa, the issue hasn't been the regulations as much as parking issues and raising awareness about food trucks.  In the little over a year that Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn has been in office, he's ensured that the trucks there are properly equipped with all the appropriate fire and safety equipment and created a monthly food truck rally in Downtown Tampa.  Instead of taking business away from restaurants downtown, Buckhorn said the rallies have actually brought more business to them during the rallies.

"They've given our downtown a tremendous shot in the arm," said Buckhorn, who calls himself the mayor of food trucks.  He encouraged Jacksonville's leaders to support the trend. "The long-term impacts of reinvigorating your downtown far surpass the inconveniences of dealing with the codes," he said.

Did DVI's board actually consult with the City of Tampa or did they just read one of our older articles?  I ask because Buckhorn has been quoted as saying the trucks have improved the business of brick & mortar restaurants several times.  That goes against the reasons suggested by the DVI board for limiting food trucks in downtown (which goes against the Buckhorn quote above). 

Anyway, I hope I'm wrong in my questioning.  I would love to see DVI host monthly food truck rallies in Hemming Plaza and advocate in favor of eliminating a lot of the regulations placed upon the food truck industry in Jacksonville.  This would surely beat paying $30k a year for a Hemming Plaza seat shuffler.

[fieldafm]

Can't find the video... but Action News had a segment on Saturday night about the event.
If anyone has the link to the video, please post it here.  They covered the event and also did a segment with Driftwood BBQ Sat night.

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/mostpopular/story/Food-truck-vendors-hope-to-help-revitalize/w_W_MbtcVke6iQ3dq2N65Q.cspx


There were also a few clips Friday morning

http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2415&DateTime=3%2F30%2F2012+6%3A25%3A30+AM&Term=Second+Harvest&PlayClip=TRUE

http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2410&DateTime=3%2F30%2F2012+6%3A25%3A31+AM&Term=Second+Harvest&PlayClip=TRUE

http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2415&DateTime=3%2F30%2F2012+7%3A13%3A57+AM&Term=Second+Harvest&PlayClip=TRUE

http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2415&DateTime=3%2F30%2F2012+7%3A32%3A41+AM&Term=Second+Harvest&PlayClip=TRUE

http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2415&DateTime=3%2F30%2F2012+7%3A32%3A41+AM&Term=Second+Harvest&PlayClip=TRUE


Kerry Speckman has a wrapup about her experience here:
http://www.thespecktator.com/2012/03/1097/

Pictures are up on the Facebook page
facebook.com/JaxTruckies

Visit Jacksonville had info about the event on their social media feeds and on their website. 

First Coast News announced the event

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/article/249890/3/Jax-Truckies-Food-Truck-Championship-Saturday

Jacksonville.com had a previous article about the event

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/423471/gary-mills/2012-03-06/jax-truckies-food-truck-championship-set-march-31

Coverage should be in Jacksonville Mag and Folio Weekly

If you are on Twitter you can hear what people are saying about the event here:

twitter.com/JaxTruckies

Roaming Hunger (a food truck website) had the even on their social media feeds

Here is the podcast for Melissa Ross' First Coast Connect show

http://www.wjct.org/mp3/fcc/fccmar2912.mp3

[WmNussbaum]

Stephen, I am not shilling for DVI. (A couple of weeks ago I went to one of its meetings for the first time.) But putting large food trucks along the most used streets in the core is not a great idea. If I were a local restaurateur and saw potential customer parking spots being take up by food trucks which didn't even have to feed the meters, I would think that the playing field just got tilted.

Putting one or two or more in Hemming Plaza would be a good idea. With luck, one might even find a space to sit and not have to try to eat handing up. A fee should be charged for the privilege. No one gets a free ride. If the trucks are not subject to health dept. inspections, they should be. If they don't have to have an occupational license, that should be changed. Put 'em somewhere that they don't compete with the brick and mortar restaurants (unless you want them to get run out of business). The new courthouse opens in a couple of months and EverBank will be moving into its new headquarters soon. There is a lot of surface space available nearby. The food trucks should be jostling for position to rent space in those lots what with all the new available business. 

More to the point, however, is why this is such a big issue. I work downtown and usually have lunch there. I never - NEVER - have to wait on a table, or get jostled along the sidewalks. Why? Glad you asked. Because there aren't that damn many people out on the street. Would food trucks change that? Possibly, at least short-term. So have someone show up at the next City Council meeting and speak out in favor of putting them in the Plaza and see what happens.

A brief digression: Someone criticized a $150.00 city fee for sidewalk seating. This is one of the attitudes that makes this city so poor. Why the charge? Because the city needs the money, and the sidewalks are city property. Our tax base is low and getting lower - especially in the downtown area. Where is the money to do things supposed to come from? I don't enjoy paying taxes any more than the next guy, but there ought to be a limit on being tightwads. (And speaking of that and DVI, I was interested to find out that the Ambassadors are paid for by DVI, not the City - but, admittedly, from taxes it collects - an extra millage imposed on downtown property owners. I do not object to the extra millage rate I pay - it's small enough.)

[fieldafm]

Putting one or two or more in Hemming Plaza would be a good idea. With luck, one might even find a space to sit and not have to try to eat handing up. A fee should be charged for the privilege. No one gets a free ride. If the trucks are not subject to health dept. inspections, they should be. If they don't have to have an occupational license, that should be changed. Put 'em somewhere that they don't compete with the brick and mortar restaurants (unless you want them to get run out of business). The new courthouse opens in a couple of months and EverBank will be moving into its new headquarters soon. There is a lot of surface space available nearby. The food trucks should be jostling for position to rent space in those lots what with all the new available business. 

They have licenses and pass routine inspections just like brick and morter businesses do.  In fact, the state came out and inspected all 7 trucks at our event Saturday(they all passed, one vendor who had a conflicting schedule recently got a clean plate award last week, that's now the SECOND food truck to get a clean plate award this year... pretty good odds considering there are less than 15 in the city).

No one is advocating a free ride.  We are advocating fixed locations (like every other city that successfully integrates food trucks downtown) with specific fees in order to stimulate pedestrian activity downtown. 

No one wants to put other businesses in the poor house.  You have to be seriously kidding yourself if you believe I am advocating for something like that.  You won't find a bigger supporter of our downtown businesses than myself.  And frankly, it isn't very convenient to support them being that they are so few and far between. 

BUT, it has been proven in countless other cities that food trucks can be a missing piece to the bigger puzzle.  They will bring people downtown.  They will stimulate pedestrian movement downtown.  Now we must find mutually beneficial solutions in order to move our downtown forward... and put aside petty differences.  We all want everyone to experience financial gain, but instead of fighting each other... why not work together?  For once ?!?

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Why is it that everyone wants to complicate the issue?

Food Trucks in Hemming.  When (not if) they set up shop, they will draw more people from the offices to try it out, if nothing more than the novelty.  Say 1,000 people try it out.  Out of that 1,000, 300 of them are the people that usually sit at their desk and eat microwaved lean cuisines because they only have 45 minutes or so to eat and can't justify spending $10 on lunch, but were coerced by a friend at work to try it out.   

Well, that's 300 people now walking past your (brick & mortar) menu board on the way to Hemming, the same one's that are normally at their desk, that say - oh, I didn't know they had that, or - that looks delicious, maybe we need to come by here next week.

Not only are the food trucks NOT going to take away your regular business, they will more than likely INCREASE your exposure, which would lead to MORE business.  Think of it as free advertising.

It's the same reason the businesses downtown get the shaft before and after Jags games.  That's potentially 60k people that are being shuttled just outside of your door that don't have an opportunity to stop in.  IF they (JSO) didn't manage the flow of traffic so well, it would give people a reason to park further away and walk or shuttle and even stop in, grab a few more drinks (probably unneeded after the game) or browse your gallery for a bit, while the traffic dies down.