To the Editor:
The city manager’s initiative “What’s Next Alexandria”, ostensibly a program to develop a set of principles for civic engagement, has just imploded.
The city manager established a Food Truck Advisory Group to ascertain if and where food trucks ought to be able to operate in the City of Alexandria. Presently food trucks can only operate at construction sites, special events, and at the farmers markets if Special Use Permits (SUPs) allow them to do so. The group met over a six-month period, yet because of the heavy snows we had last winter the group was unable to complete its work. However the over-rambunctious city staff could not wait until all of the issues were settled, and a final report rendered, before taking the program to the Planning Commission on May 6 and the council will address the issue on May 13 followed by a public hearing sometime in June or September. During their May 6 presentation, the Planning Commission was aghast at being told that they were only being asked to listen to the staff presentation and then comment but not to vote on whether they agreed or not. At least four of the seven commission members could not believe the subterfuge employed by the city staff in ram-rodding this program through.
All of a sudden, items that were never discussed at all during the six-month deliberations appeared in the findings; they were added by staff. In a number of other cases where the staff stated that there was consensus in the group on an issue that consensus really never occurred. In fact there were also a number of items not addressed in the staff report that were agreed to by both the group and the city staff.
In Old Town there are about 100 eateries from the river to the rails. Many of these are fast service restaurants that will be adversely impacted by food trucks. In addition, besides taking away more parking spaces, these trucks do not add any ambiance to the Old and Historic District which is the economic engine for the entire city. The million or so tourists who annually come to see our historic structures do not need to be subjected to unsightly trucks parked on our historic streets. Ergo, no food trucks should be allowed in the Old and Historic District which happens to be the third oldest historic district in the nation. It has always been protected as the “crown jewel” of Alexandria and hopefully it remains as such. We do have the authority to ban food trucks completely as has been done in other cities.
The city manager is about ready to strike out. He got strike one by trying to balance the budget on the backs of the seniors and safety concerns (Firehouse 204); this fiasco by his city staff on food trucks is strike two. At this rate it shouldn’t take too long for the final strike.
Townsend A. “Van” Van Fleet
Alexandria