SF School Board Opposes New Food Truck Regulations
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— After two years of negotiations, a San Francisco supervisor has come up with a compromise plan for new food truck regulation that both food truck vendors and restaurant owners say they can live with, but the plan still faces opposition from educators.
San Francisco Unified School District's Board of Education is opposing the plan because of the reduction in the buffer zone around schools.
The compromise fashioned by San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener would improve the permitting process for food trucks, allow them to operate on college and hospital campuses and would reduce the distance they can park from middle and high schools.
Chris Armentrout with the SFUSD said they can agree to reduce the buffer zone to a block or a block and a half around most schools except O'Connell, Galileo and Mission High.
"Those schools have a large population and they've also had a history of challenges with participation in their lunch program with students leaving off campus," Armentrout said.
Matt Cohen with Off The Grid, a collective of local street food vendors, explained who they try to cater to.
"Our market isn't students. Our market, for the most part, is other people that might be near schools," Cohen said.
But Supervisor Wiener pointed out that the schools mentioned by the SFUSD are located near business districts.
SF School Board Oppose Supervisor Wiener's Food Truck Plans
"I just don't see that having a significant impact on the kids and on the school lunch program given how many options they already have, Wiener said.
He did agree to map out the boundaries so that other members of the board of supervisors can better understand the impact the modification will have on schools before the modifications go to the full board for a vote next week.
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