Albany officials mulling changes to food truck regulations

ALBANY — Albany officials are considering expanding hours and routes for food truck vendors in the city’s Central Business District for the summer to determine whether permanent changes should be made to local ordinances impacting the vendors.

Currently, the popular food truck concept has not caught on as well in the Albany market as it has in other metropolitan areas, but Albany city commissioner and local restaurateur B.J. Fletcher said the city can work to attract more such businesses, which could be instrumental in revitalizing the downtown area.

“It’s going to be vital to our downtown area, it’s going to be vital to Chehaw park, it’s going to be vital to the civic center,” she said. “Anything that this city calls an attraction, (a food truck) has absolutely got to be a part of it.”

Fletcher also said with the community having multiple colleges in the area, the presence of food trucks during later hours could be a key piece in helping to improve nightlife for the younger crowd.

City Planning Services Director Paul Forgey suggested at the commission’s work meeting Tuesday that officials allow a relaxing of rules governing food trucks in the city over the summer in an effort to encourage more participation by the vendors in downtown events.

“We could evaluate the impact at the end of the summer to determine whether we should change city ordinances applying to food trucks on a more permanent basis,” Forgey told commissioners.

As far as business owners are concerned, Fletcher said she doesn’t think relaxing the rules will interfere too much with them.

“People know what they want to eat,” she said. “If I’m in the mood for Chinese, you’re not gonna talk me into eating Southern. This is a mindset that has to change.”

Mona Qaqish, owner of the Cookie Shoppe on Jackson Street, echoed those sentiments and said she’s confident the customer rapport she’s built over the years will sustain her business.

“Competition is good,” she said. “I’ve been here over 30 years. The Cookie Shoppe has been open for 35 years. My business is good, my food is good. I’m not bragging, but that’s why your customers come back. If the food truck comes downtown or comes anywhere, the customers aren’t gonna come back (if the food is not good). My thing is, competition is good. It makes you work harder.”

Qaqish said she is preparing for a short-term impact if there is an influx of food trucks (if the city approves the relaxing of ordinances impacting mobile vendors), but she says she’s confident the customers will come back.

A few blocks over at Cool Scoops, right across the street from the Flint RiverQuarium, owner Eric Culbreth said he doesn’t think the playing field is level due to his having the cost of maintaining a stationary location. Aside from that, he said he doesn’t think it’s an entirely bad idea, but that the timing for such a venture isn’t right.

“We don’t have enough people to accommodate my business as a whole downtown,” he said. “Only about 1 percent of downtown supports businesses anyway.”

Cool Scoops is surrounded by empty buildings with advertisements asking business owners to lease. In the time he’s spent running the downtown shop, Culbreth said he’s watched other businesses struggle before packing up and leaving, something he thinks should be addressed first.

“I’ve been here for 4 1/2 years, and almost everyone that comes in the store is from out of town,” he added. “I feel like if you want to be a champion of something and you’re advocating all these different things that you want to be done for Albany, why don’t you support the businesses yourself and set an example?”

Culbreth said he believes there should be incentives in place to inspire people to move their businesses to any of the number of empty buildings in the area in order to create a traffic flow that would accommodate both parties.

The city of Albany, using business incentive funds advocated by City Manager Sharon Subadan and approved by the City Commission, purchased most of the vacant buildings surrounding Cool Scoops and is currently readying them for occupancy.

According to the tentative agenda commissioners are expected to further discuss the matter at the commission’s meeting Tuesday night.

— Additional reporting for this story by Carlton Fletcher

Jennifer Parks