AMHERST — As town officials begin researching possible changes to the rules governing food trucks and lunch carts, representatives of Amherst’s business community are calling for keeping the playing field level for restaurants.
“From our perspective, the regulation is working well as it is,” said Jerry Guidera, interim director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, who told the Select Board Monday that he does not view the regulation as a failure because only three of up to 10 licenses are issued.
Reacting to an appeal from Sun Kim, of Campbell Court, who operates the Sun Kim Bop Korean food truck and is seeking more places to park, the Select Board began discussions about possible amendments to the rules adopted April 8, 2013, but deferred action until later this summer.
Instead, the board will have Geoffrey Kravitz, the town’s economic development director, do extensive research in how to improve the regulations.
Peter Hechenbleikner, interim town manager, said he will work with Kravitz to speak to the business community and organizers of events that draw crowds to downtown, including the weekly Amherst Farmers Market.
“It does make sense for our economic development director to work on this, and do that kind of outreach,” Hechenbleikner said.
In a letter to the board, Kim, who was not at the meeting, asked that Boltwood Avenue north of Spring Street be added to places where she can park her food truck, that some spots be reserved, for a fee, for food trucks, and that there be more flexibility for temporary permits to park elsewhere in town.
Though up to six on-street and four on-sidewalk food vendor permits can be issued per calendar year, Kim’s is the only licensed food truck, and there are just two licensed lunch carts for sidewalks, Top Dogs and New York Halal Food.
Select Board member Constance Kruger said it is appropriate to review the rules, especially for the food trucks that park on the street. Kruger said she would be open to adding spaces to accommodate them.
“Are there any other possible areas?” Kruger asked.
Kruger said allowing reservations of areas ahead of time and welcoming food trucks to events that bring in large numbers of people might also be appropriate.
Sarah la Cour, executive director of the Amherst Business Improvement District, said competition is problematic for restaurants that are “really struggling.”
La Cour said Amherst does not yet have a food truck culture that exists in some communities, but that the BID would support its creation.
“I think the locations are the critical piece of this, and getting that critical mass, whatever it is,” la Cour said.
Like la Cour, Guidera said there is support from some chamber members who want Amherst to have a food-truck culture.
Guidera said members would support changes to the regulations that would remove some of the unfair competition they pose to restaurants, such as raising the $100 annual fee, adding specific distances they must park from restaurants and possibly prohibiting lunch carts.
“From our perspective, we would prefer to not see them on the sidewalk,” Guidera said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
