Food truck owners steamed over new city proposal

Mar 11, 2014 | Life

Boston food truck parked in Back Bay area. Red Bones food truck. Taken by Monika M. Wahi, June 8 2012.

Boston food truck parked in Back Bay area. Red Bones food truck. Taken by Monika M. Wahi, June 8 2012.

By Michael Osei

Reaction continued in Toronto on Tuesday to a municipal planning proposal to limit locations for food trucks in the city.

Award winning food truck owner Frank Mazzonetto says he is unhappy with a proposal offered by city bureaucrats in regards to food truck regulations.

“We’re trying to change things up,” said Mazzonetto,whose business, Frankie Fettuccine’s Food Truck, was named Ontario’s best new food truck service in 2013.

“Toronto is so behind. There’s so many good models that are working like Vancouver, Calgary, and Hamilton, which is just down the street from us,” he told Humber News.

The proposition put forward by city bureaucrats states that food trucks would have to be 50 metres or more away from a restaurant and 30 metres or more away from a school.

Mazzonetto, who is also a Humber graduate, said the city is trying to limit the number of food truck licenses.

In the downtown core in Wards 20 and 27, the city currently has a vending ban that food truck owners want lifted.

“It will be a little easier for us to access our customers all around the downtown core,” Mazzonetto said.

Ryan McAndrew runs the Beach Boys Food Truck service. He told Humber News on Tuesday that the proposal was a good first step, but the city’s proposal of a yearly $5,000 fee was too much.

“The most expensive municipality in north america is Portland, Oregon and they charge $1000 a year for food truck licenses. City council is proposing it to be $5000. That would be five times more expensive than the most expensive district in North America,” said McAndrew.