Kitchener may discontinue weekly food trucks at city hall

Kitchener's finance and corporate services committee has voted in favour of amending a bylaw to stop weekly food trucks at Carl Zehr Square outside of city hall. 

However, trucks would still be allowed to operate at the square if they are associated with a festival or event. They would also be allowed to operate weekly or monthly within the boundaries of the Downtown Kitchener BIA. 

The bylaw amendment still has to go before the full council for approval.

The following conditions would apply for food trucks operating in the city: 

• The program/location will be used by more than one participating food truck.
• Participating food trucks operate on a rotating basis and are licensed by the city. 
• The location is not on properties fronting King Street and is in a location that is satisfactory to the city's director of transportation services and chief building official. 
• The location is endorsed by the board of the Downtown Kitchener BIA. 
• Locations will be approved annually by the city's manager of downtown development. 

Brad Schmuck, a local food truck operator, says although he and his colleagues appreciate any opportunity to operate in the downtown core, he is disappointed with the decision to restrict business at Carl Zehr Square. 

"We spent two years building this location, now they just upped us and moved us two blocks down the road, that's not in a central location for people to go to, so it's a little bit frustrating," said Schmuck. 

But Kitchener councillor Yvonne Fernandes says the provision to restrict food truck activity on King Street is to encourage food trucks to spread out to other locations in the core and encourage more foot traffic. 

"The arguments we were hearing, was that people would come out of either city hall or one of the office buildings and go directly to the food trucks," said Fernandes. "If the first thing you see when you step out is just that, you're likely not going to walk much further."

The committee also agreed that food trucks should not be permitted on Breithaupt Street unless authorized by a special event license. However, that is set to be looked at once again after ION construction has been completed.