Vancouver City Council voted February 19 to approve a new street-vending bylaw that could mean big changes for food truck operators in the city.
The new bylaw will make it illegal for food truck permits to be resold or rented out. As it stands, some permit holders have been reselling or renting out permits to operators – in essence acting as landlords – for, in some cases, several times more than they originally cost.
In addition, food trucks will not be able to operate within 100 metres of a restaurant that is serving similar fare.
"The changes…are good and they're spot-on," said Andy Fielding, owner of the Kaboom Box food truck and president of the Streetfood Vancouver Society.
Fielding said it is important to make sure that operators and owners who have been playing by the rules thus far are not punished.
"As far as the [licence] rentals are concerned, we're all owner/operators and some of us have entered into these leases because that's what they had to do, and they've done so completely legally and that's essentially been what's allowed so far."
The bylaw that is being replaced was originally written in the 1970s, with some changes made since that time, resulting in what many say doesn't meet today's needs.
- With files from Jen St. Denis
