Planning Commission OKs Food Truck Events in Santa Monica

By Jason Islas
Staff Writer

August 24, 2012 -- Santa Monica's Planning Commission voted 5 to 2 Wednesday night to recommend that the City Council allow as many as four off-street food truck events in the beachside city.

The Commission, with the exception of Commissioners Ted Winterer and Jim Ries, voted to allow a weekly food truck event on Main Street from 5 and 10 p.m. and as many as three events, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., on Pico, Santa Monica and Lincoln boulevards.

"I think it's a great idea," said Commissioner Jennifer Kennedy. "I think especially on Santa Monica Boulevard… I would like to make sure that that neighborhood stays vibrant and doesn't get marginalized.

"A lot of people come out of their homes and attend these food truck events and make the area more social," she said.

Commissioner Amy Anderson agreed, partly.

“I think that food trucks are a great means of bringing vibrancy and activity to the street and to the nighttime hours,” she said.

“I have a different opinion about food trucks in business districts,” Anderson said. “I would be supportive of much tighter restrictions in the Main Street district."

Gary Gordon, executive director of the Main Street Business Improvement Association, said the group is concerned about the trucks' impacts on the "economic viability and sustainability of the restaurants."

Even so, Gordon said that the board does support a food truck event on Main Street, so long as it isn't more frequent than one night a week.

But some merchants say that the weekly food truck event in the parking lot of the California Heritage Museum, which helps the museum raise money, already is siphoning business.

"Our business hurts on Tuesday nights," said Llonna Schuppel, owner of Shoop's European Deli on Main Street.

But Kennedy countered, “The people who tend to visit (food trucks) are the people with strollers and dogs. They serve a different clientele.”

Commissioner Richard McKinnon proposed allowing a maximum of three events in four possible locations on Santa Monica, Pico and Lincoln, which comprise the city's C4 district.

“I don’t think we should be constantly worried that new things will affect what we have," said McKinnon. "What we should be looking to do is to integrate them and make them part of the Santa Monica experience.”

Winterer, who cast one of two dissenting votes, was unable to persuade his colleagues to agree to update the zoning code and create an "ongoing event permit" food trucks could apply for annually. An annual permit, he argued, would allow City officials to review how the events are going.

The zoning update, as recommended by the Commission, would require that any lots used for food truck events be at least 15,000 square feet and that there should be one food truck per 2,000 square feet and a maximum of 200 square feet for seating.

As a friendly amendment to the motion, Chair Gerda Newbold recommended that staff continue to explore ways to make the permits temporary.