Council advances bill for food truck parking

A bill designed to allow lunch trucks more time to sell food along city streets is poised for a final vote after the City Council Wednesday voted unanimously to give Bill 59 the second of three necessary approvals.

Under the latest version of the bill, introduced by Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard, food trucks and other street vendors would be allowed to park as long as is allowed in a zone with parking limits, or up to three hours.

Food truck owners said police officers were citing them using an ordinance that allows vendors to sell their food and other items only for 15 minutes when stationary on a city street or highway.

Many have left the downtown area where enforcement has been most severe. Food truck owners and supporters warn many will shut down without the bill.

Robert Anderson, owner of The Café Truck, said the recent popularity of food trucks has put many people to work. He recently hired two full-time employees, but those people will be laid off for a week during spring break because they park on a private lot in the university area. That wouldn’t happen if he were allowed to operate on a city street for longer than 15 minutes, he said.

"It may not seem like much but this bill affects a lot of people," Anderson said.

Some have raised concerns that food trucks unfairly take away business from "brick and mortar" restaurants because they do not have the same kind of operating costs.

Council Chairman Ernie Martin said a final vote on the bill will be held on April 3 to speed the process. Usually, bills return to committee for additional work before returning to the Council for a final vote but that step is being waived.

Also Wednesday, Oahu horse owners urged the Council to reinstate tax breaks that were eliminated last year by a bill designed to prevent misuse of agricultural lands.

Bill 12, introduced by Councilman Ikaika Anderson, would include "horse boarding and stabling" in the legal definition of "agricultural use," making having a horse on a property again eligible to receive a substantial tax break.

Bill 30 would essentially repeal the current law, which severely curtailed the number of lot owners eligible for agricultural dedication breaks.

Glenn Martinez, who heads Hawaii Farmers Union United, said a community stable on the North Shore now paying $600 with a tax exemption would have to pay $60,000 annually under new rules approved by the Council last year.

The two bills now go to the Budget Committee for further work.

Also advancing Wednesday was Bill 10, which bars businesses from distributing plastic bags at a point of sale and Resolution 25, which would start a process to transfer the powers now under the semiautonomous Board of Water Supply to a water supply department under the responsibility of the mayor.