NEWPORT — Wherefood trucks can park and do business has been a subject of controversy in the city — especially when they show up on iconic Bellevue Avenue — but they have very few locations to choose from.
And that number could dwindle even more.
Attorney John Boxer, who represents the parent company that owns twofood trucks, told City Council members Wednesday night he has walked the city, particularly the business districts, with a tape measure to determine exactly where food trucks are allowed to park under the city ordinance.
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The City Council enacted an ordinance in August 2019 that allowed food trucks in every business district where restaurants are allowed, as long as the trucks are at least 250 away from any restaurant location.
“What I found are eight spots in the entire city where a food truck can operate,” Boxer said. “If you take away Bellevue Avenue, that leaves seven locations for six food trucks.”
The city ordinance allows up to six food trucks to receive licenses, although only four of those licenses have been applied for and approved so far this year. Separately, the city permits up to six food carts, which have avoided controversy during the past year.
The council held the workshop in order to hear from food truck operators, objectors to specific food truck locationsand anyone who had ideas for changes to the ordinance.
Where should the trucks go?
Councilman Charlie Holder had an idea that seemed to find the most resonance among fellow council members. He said other cities have set aside areas where more than one food truck can go and become draws for locals and tourists.
“They could be destinations, as opposed to having the trucks park in random spots,” he said.
Holder suggested Newport set aside the parking lot at the Gateway Visitors Center on America’s Cup Avenue and the parking lot of the Innovate Newport entrepreneurs’ center on Broadway as central food truck locations.
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Councilwoman Kathryn Leonard supported that proposal. During the discussion, she said the area near the Combined Sewer Outflow pump station on Wellington Avenue next to King Park could be another food truck location.
Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano also supported the idea of central food locations.
Councilwoman Jamie Bova said she was open to the idea of having “congregate locations” as well.
The council does not take any action during workshops that are set up for discussion purposes only. Napolitano asked council members to submit proposed food truck ordinance amendments to Assistant City Solicitor Girard Galvin for review. Galvin would then draft the possible ordinance changes for a later vote by the council.
Napolitano said she had discussions with Councilwoman Angela McCalla before the meeting and she supports McCalla’s suggestion not to enact any changes to the food truck ordinance until the fall, when the pandemic is hopefully over and most people are vaccinated. That decision is subject to a majority decision by the full council.
Food truck operators, opponents speak out
Having food trucks as a food option was a benefit during the pandemic, some speakers said.
“We donated $2 for every pizza we sold during the pandemic,” said Simone Ferrara of Middletown, the operator of the A Mano Pizza & Gelato truck.
Ferrara said the truck is a family-operated business and he does not see it as competition for restaurants. He said food trucks are “extremely limited” in their operations, such as the restriction they can only do business between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
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“We lose business because we have to close by 7 p.m. in the summer,” he said.
“There are a lot of other restrictions we have,” Ferrara said, citing limited locations where it is possible to open up.“To take away Bellevue Avenue will hurt our business,” he said. “We have created a sense of community among the people coming to our food truck.”
Attorney Boxer, who represents the parent company that owns Ferrara's food truck and the La Costa Lobster and Tacos truck operated by LaForge Casino Restaurant, asked the council to allow a nearby alternate location if the council prohibits food trucks on Bellevue Avenue.
A spot on Memorial Boulevard where the farmers market is held on Wednesdays, or on Jones Street, which is off Bellevue Avenue parallel to the Bellevue Gardens Shopping Plaza where CVS is, are possible alternate locations, Boxer said. He also suggested the east parking lot of Easton’s Beach.
However, Barry Botelho has been operating the Easton's Beach Snack Bar for the past 22 years. City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson Jr. told the council that Botelho’s annual contract with the city has an exclusivity clause, although that contract has not been signed yet this year because the raised deck that supports the snack bar has to be inspected.
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Nicholson said the Gateway Center and Innovate Newport suggestions are workable proposals.
Joanna Reeves, the owner of Mamma Leone’s pizza restaurant in the Bellevue Shopping Plaza where Stop & Shop is located, spoke against allowing food trucks on Bellevue Avenue.
The food trucks do business near the intersection of Bellevue Avenue and East Bowery Street, next to the parking lot Mamma Leone’s customers use.
Having a pizza truck operate across the parking lot from her pizzeria has been a sore point for Reeves for at least a year now.“Neighbors come to me and say that is so unfair,” she told the council.
A brick-and-mortar restaurant, like Mamma Leone’s, pays high rent and utilities at the location for the whole year, she argued, while a food truck without these costs can come in at prime times and take away customers.
There are multiple restaurants close by that also sell pizza and she welcomes the competition, Reeves said, but the food trucks have an unfair advantage if they are allowed to park on Bellevue Avenue in front of her restaurant.
Peggy Mulholland, a resident who walks to Mamma Leone’s, said, “my biggest concern is the historical significance of Bellevue Avenue.”
She also said the food trucks at that location are a safety hazard because drivers who come out of East Bowery Street have their vision obstructed by the park food truck. They don’t see as well the traffic coming south on Bellevue Avenue, she said.
Traffic Sgt. Jonathan Cortes told the council there have been 10 accidents at the intersection of East Bowery Street and Bellevue Avenue during the past three years.
There have been three accidents at the intersection this year, he said.
Cortes said he read the narrative reports of all these accidents and “not one of them mentions a food truck blocking the view. None these cases even mentions a food truck.”
National organization weighs in
Melanie Benit, who works at the Institute for Justice, a nationwide public interest civil liberties law firm based in Arlington, Virginia, was the surprise speaker of the night during the Zoom meeting.
“We have a national street-vending initiative where we work in courts, city councils and in the streets to help improve vending commissions across the U.S.,” she said.
She said the removal of Bellevue Avenue as a food truck location, as well as the 250-foot distance from restaurants “makes it very difficult for food trucks to operate.”
“We thought we could help,” Benit said. “Food truck entrepreneurs should have the same protections under the law as other food sellers. Just as similar types of restaurants can be located near one another, food trucks should not be banned from areas that have other places to eat.”
She suggested reducing or removing the 250-foot restriction. Not all restrictions or regulations should be removed, she said, and the institute could assist the council in drafting an ordinance.
“The ordinance would ensure that public rights-of-way are followed, that does ensure vehicular and pedestrian traffic can move about, and there is not a noise nuisance,” Benit said. “An ordinance can ensure those things without preventing food vendors from operating successfully.”
She asked the council not to impose “blanket bans” and let food truck vendors find their own spots. She said private property owners should be allowed to rent spots for food truck operations.
This all irritated Councilman Holder.
“You are coming onto our meeting suggesting what we should do and you have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to Newport,” Holder said after asking Benit if she had ever been to the city. She said had not.
Holder is the operations manager at the Midtown Oyster Bar restaurant located on Thames Street.
Councilwoman McCalla interrupted Holder’s prolonged comments and said he was “berating” Benit.
“I’m not trying to attack her, but getting my point across that if anyone is going to come on here, they should have some background and some idea of what we are dealing with,” Holder said.
“I do feel slightly attacked,” Benit responded. “By no means are we here to impose and tell you what to do. I am here specifically and only to give guidance in our experience on what has helped vendors across the country be successful. These vendors are wonderful contributors to the community.”
