City Proposes New Food Truck Policy

Before he ran a food truck filled with cake and cannoli, Joe Glaser was a plumber. When the economy took a turn for the worse Glaser, 48, attended the Institute of Culinary Education.

Now, after seven months of running La Bella Torte—a dessert food truck specializing in canoli usually parked at Third and Washington Streets—he is contemplating moving his business back to Brooklyn, due to the city's proposed changes to the food truck parking policy.

"I feel like they're trying to crush small business," said Glaser, who runs the truck with his wife Ann Marie, 46. "I'm still putting money back into the community."

Under the proposed new policy, food truck vendors have to pay $1,250 to apply for a vendor parking permit, and pay $2,500 per year for the permit itself. Currently, the cost is $500 for the permit. Food trucks have to also feed the meter like regular parkers.

"They're going to charge us $3,000 and still make us pay the meters," Glaser said, "what's the point?"

The new rules also include that the trucks cannot be parked within 100 feet of a brick and mortar establishment that offers a menu. This would make La Bella Torte's current parking spot—in front of Hoboken Bar & Grill and McDonalds—illegal.

"I'm always here in front of Hoboken Grill," Glaser said. "They're friends of mine."

The new policy also proposes that trucks need to be at least 50 feet away from each other. Right now, many food trucks are often parked next to each other on 14th Street close to the ferry stop during commuting rush hours.

The proposal states that the trucks cannot be more than 30 feet in length and subjects the trucks to the same city rules as everybody else, such as the noise ordinance. The policy stipulates that the hours of operation for the trucks are 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday through Thursday and 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. during weekends.

Glaser said also that the trucks will have to install a GPS into their trucks, to enable Hoboken residents to track their locations. "New York doesn't put these rules on us," Glaser said.

Other popular trucks in Hoboken include the Cinnamon Snail—a vegan truck—and The Taco Truck, which also opened a downtown store front.

Director of Parking and Transportation Ian Sacs said that the new fees are not supposed to generate income, but will be used to run the food vendor program.

"The rules are fair," Sacs said. He added that the city, in drafting the new policy, looked at other cities with food trucks and built on that. "The rules will allow them to flourish."

Sacs called the new proposal "one of the most innovative policies in the country."

The city council will be voting on first reading of the new ordinance. A second vote will be needed at a future council meeting to make the policy go into effect.