To the Editor:
I am eager to see food trucks in Old Town and I think the concerns by the local businesses are two separate problems.
First off, competition is to be expected in any business. Brick and mortar stores are struggling to compete with online retailers. Likewise, local restaurants are already competing with the plethora of new restaurants that have opened up in and around Old Town in the past few years.
There have been at least half a dozen new restaurants between the new Parker Gray area, Del Ray and Old Town, which are all competition for the existing restaurants who do not want food trucks competing with them. I don’t think it is fair to allow one type of business but not another when it comes to competition. Why are food trucks such a threat?
The advantage of a food truck is that if it is not profitable or if business is slow, it will move and there goes your competition. And if I’m not mistaken, food trucks would only be around during lunch hours leaving the rest of the day competition free.
Instead of looking at food trucks as competition, restaurants can see this as an opportunity to enhance their menus with lower-priced to-go lunch items that would be appealing to people who would also be looking at grabbing a bite to eat from a food truck.
I certainly would opt for calling in a quick pick-up for under $10 instead of standing in line at a food truck, if I knew those options were available and I’m sure other locals would be interested in them too. In places like North Old Town and the Patent Office/Carlyle area, I’m sure people would be happy to have other options since their choices are limited to begin with. I’ve worked in North Old Town and the food choices are slim pickings compared to elsewhere in Old Town.
The second issue of parking goes beyond food trucks. Parking in Old Town has no discernible reason or pattern. One side of a street is paid parking while the other side is two-hour. The next block is three-hour parking with unlimited parking on the other side of the street. On one street, you can park all the way to the corner. On another street, you can’t park within 30 feet of the corner and it’s not because there is a crosswalk, driveway, fire hydrant, or anything else there.
Most importantly, all the meters are active until 9 p.m. when they used to stop at 6 p.m. Like the signs on many shops in Old Town state, “Parking is the new tax.” Instead of just adding on a local tax, like the restaurant tax, paid parking essentially punishes locals who want to eat and shop in Old Town, not the tourists who are coming by Metro or staying in local hotels and don’t park at the meters.
I used to go down to Old Town with my boyfriend at least once a week to walk around, shop, and eat. We don’t do that anymore because it’s too frustrating to deal with parking. We’ll go maybe once a month to eat dinner and that’s it. We can easily go out walking and eat without paying or fighting for parking in many other places in the area.
City Council needs to find a way to make the tourists pay for eating and shopping in Old Town and not shift the burden on the locals by way of increasing parking. More people will come back to Old Town and there will be room for everyone and their food trucks.
Deb Fuller
Alexandria