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Oakland Debates Future Regulations On Food Trucks

OAKLAND (KCBS) – The Oakland City Council is scheduled to vote Tuesday night on a temporary permitting process for mobile food vendors in the city.

The new policy would allow food vendors to operate in certain parts of the city while a more comprehensive policy is established.

The fight over food trucks came to a head last week when a number of vendors at the monthly Oakland Art Murmur event were ticketed by police and forced to leave.

KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:

Because of this ongoing problem, Oakland City Council Member Rebecca Kaplan has crafted legislation she said will put a temporary end to the issue.

"The reason we need a permitting system is so that we can make it legal, we can make it regulated and we will ensure county health permits," she said.

Permanent proposals have been worked on for over a year but the legislation by Kaplan and fellow city council member Jane Brunner would establish a pilot program in four districts outside the Fruitvale, where they are already permitted.

"There are a couple of districts that do not want them and that's fine," Brunner said.

There has been opposition from brick-and-mortar restaurants that have complained about losing business to these food pods.

But Tina Ramos, who runs Tina Tamale, said she just wants to grow her business doing what she loves.

"I would like to hire more people from Oakland to work in either a stand, a cart or a truck," Ramos said. "But I want to do this in my hometown."

A permanent mobile food vending policy is expected to be voted on next year.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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