The Municipal Services Committee met 03/11/2024. One of the items they took up was the request to approve modifications to the Central Business District Street Vendors Ordinance. Currently, food trucks/street vendors in the downtown area are allowed to stay open until 4PM. The ordinance changes proposed by the Police Department would, if passed, require street vendors to shut down at midnight. The Police Department was proposing these changes as a way to reduce gatherings at and around bar close time, gatherings which could result in fights and safety issues.
The proposal received pushback from members of the public during the 02/28/2024 Safety and Licensing Committee meeting. The members of the Municipal Services Committee seemed disinclined to approve the proposed changes. When Alderperson William Siebers (District 1) made a motion to approve the item for the purposes of discussion, his motion did not receive a second.
During discussion of the proposal, alderpersons expressed hesitancy to punish food truck proprietors for a problem that they were not themselves responsible for or promoting. Additionally, members of the public spoke against the proposal, arguing that food trucks make most of their money around bar close time so requiring them to close early would really harm their business.
The Municipal Services Committee ended up voting 3-0 to hold the item until the committee meeting on 03/25/2024 in order to provide time for more discussion to take place between various impacted parties (i.e. the police, city staff, Appleton Downtown Incorporated, and food truck proprietors) so that they could hopefully come back with some sort of action plan in two weeks for the committee to consider.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
Police Chief Polly Olson started out the discussion by telling the committee that the Police Department was trying to find ways to reduce the violence taking place in the downtown area. One of the areas they were looking at was trying to reduce large crowds of people congregating at bar close. These crowds happened to gather around food trucks. She noted that the city had an over 20-year history of disturbances taking place around crowds gathering at bar close time, back prior to food trucks when there were sidewalk vendors instead. She stressed that the ordinance changes were not aimed at the food trucks per se but rather at the crowds that were gathering.
The committee members and other alderpersons who were present, did not seem inclined toward approving the changes. Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) mentioned that “the community has been massively against this.” They talked about the possibility of finding other ways to deal with the problem such as moving the trucks away from the ride-share area or trying in some way to make the lines around the food trucks more orderly.
Additionally, concerns were raised that removing the food trucks could result in more people driving drunk so they could go to establishments that were open that late and serving food or that it would result in people congregating more densely at the remaining brick-and-mortar establishments downtown such as the gas station.
Alderperson Vered Meltzer (District 2) pointed out, “I think that we’ve historically always been very careful about taking action that takes business away from business owners, and I think that it’s very important for us to stay consistent with that while we explore strategies that will solve problems without creating new problems or just redirecting the problems to other locations.”
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) raised the possibility of creating some sort of policy group composed of interested parties that could come up with some solutions.
Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) thought that the problem was not necessarily people congregating after bar close but, rather, establishments that were overserving patrons. He pointed out, “If we look back at the violent incidences that have occurred over the last few years […] many of them have occurred inside the establishments not outside near food truck.” He went on to say, “I feel like in this situation, we have establishments that are not doing their due diligence and not paying attention to their patrons, and to put it on the food trucks seems as like a solution that doesn’t fit the problem.”
Several members of the public also spoke during the committee meeting, including Kyle Fritz of the Fox Valley Food Truck Association who told the committee that he didn’t start making money until 1:30 or 2 in the morning, well after the proposed midnight close time. He also said, “I really feel like holding the establishments and the bartenders accountable is a big issue and, you know, could solve a lot of these issues that have happened over the years.”
Reggie, the proprietor of the Caribbean Taste food truck, also said he wouldn’t make money if he had to close at midnight. He had been thinking about getting a license to sell in downtown Appleton, but the proposed ordinance change had caused him to hold off on doing that. “I’m happy to see that the police department are trying to make the city, like, safer, but I think removing food truck is not the solution.”
Other members of the public expressed concerns about how the ordinance change would impact business owners, food truck workers, and bar patrons. Alyssa, a bartender at a downtown establishment, appreciated being able to get food at the food trucks after she was done working and noted that some of the servers at her establishment were not 21 yet and so could not be in other bars after 10PM even to eat food.
Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) ended up making a motion to hold the item for 2 weeks until the next Municipal Services Committee meeting because this “would allow us some time to speak with all directors and staff involved, ADI, and others and see if perhaps we look at some kind of a committee that could help us better make these decisions.”
Alderperson Brad Firkus (District 3) voiced his support for this rather than simply voting the proposed ordinance changes down, saying, “[E]ven if this isn’t the route to go with restricting the hours for operation on the side, I think the root problem is still there and the discussion needs to happen, and I think there’s a better chance of that conversation happening and being tracked if this is held and stays alive versus just denying this and then moving on.”
The committee voted 3-0 to hold the item until the 03/25/2024 Municipal Services Committee meeting.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1182899&GUID=F6D2D877-36A4-4322-8325-50A772CAEA4E
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