The City of Penticton will start a pilot program next year to allow mobile vendors, such as food trucks like the one pictured at 12 different locations.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
October 23, 2013 - 9:08 AM
PENTICTON - Fast food lovers will get an extra helping with a mobile vendor pilot program next summer. This includes motorized and non-motorized vehicles selling hot food or other goods.
Last year the vendor program expanded and raised $37,000 in revenue for the city, recreation general manager Chuck Loewen said at Monday's council meeting. Now the city wants to allow even more vendors, this time those using food trucks as well as non-motorized vehicles.
For the pilot program, only four seasonal motorized, mobile vending permits will be issued at a cost of $1,800 each. Off-season permits will be limited to four at $600 each. And only two seasonal non-motorized, mobile vending permits will be sold at $600 each.
Mobile food vendors will be allowed at 12 locations including the parking lots at the Martin Street extension, Skaha Lake sport court, Ellis Street and the City Yards. Each mobile food vendor has the freedom to move between all 12 locations during the day.
Coun. Judy Sentes was concerned about reaction from brick-and-mortar businesses but Loewen said he's received no complaints regarding last year's sidewalk and outdoor vendors.
"It appears we have found a comfort zone," Sentes said.
Coun. Wesley Hopkin wanted to know about ice cream trucks.
"This may be a relic of the past, but what happens if someone had an ice cream truck to drive around town?" he asked.
"I didn't know they had ice cream trucks in your youth," Loewen said to much laughter. He added ice cream trucks and bicycles, travelling freely throughout the city, can be a future consideration depending on how well the mobile vending pilot program does.
To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict
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