Council Restricts Locations, Adds New Fees for Street Vendors and Food Trucks

Staff Reports

NEW BRITAIN – The Common Council revised an ordinance and the fee schedule for outdoor vendors and food trucks doing business in the city at its final meeting of the year on December 14th.

Under the revised ordinance vendors will be restricted to seven designated areas called “public way green zones”. Under the existing ordinance only one area in the downtown district prohibited outdoor vendors from selling “merchandise, food or drinks” with the exception of street festivals and similar events. Selling outside the green zone may be allowed for authorized street festivals and community events.

Vendors will pay a $500 annual fee and in addition pay amounts from $60 to $185 depending on three vendor classifications under an “itinerant vendor fee schedule.” According to the revised ordinance vendors of “toys, flags, foodstuffs, novelties, crafts and similar items for use and in connection with parades, bazaars, circuses and similar community events” will be exempt. Vendor permits must be renewed every July 1.

Many cities have revised outdated regulations on mobile food vendors in recent years revamping fee schedules and restricting sales to designated areas. In addition to raising new revenue, the intent is to protect restaurant businesses. The New Britain ordinance, for example, does not allow vendors within 500 feet of restaurants.

City Hall Watch

Those “Public Way Green Zones”, under the new law appear mainly limited to industrial areas, specifically:

(1) Burritt Street for160 feet between the first two curb cuts at the southernmost end of the adjoining property at 65 Burritt Street.

(2) Precision Court 20 feet from the intersection of the John Downey Drive stop strip for 130 feet running along the eastbound side of the road.

(3) Wilson Street 30 feet from the intersection of the East Main Street stop strip for a length of 60 feet along the southbound side of the road.

(4) Hartford Square 210 feet from the intersection of the Wooster Street stop strip for a length of 60 feet along the west bound side of the road.

(5) Commerce Circle 100 feet from the intersection of the South Street stop strip for a length of 60 feet along the north bound side of the road.

(6) Pioneer Court 30 feet from the intersection of the Whiting Street stop strip for a length of 60 feet along the northbound side of the road.

(7) St. Claire Avenue 200 feet from the intersection of the East Street stop strip for a length of 60 feet along the east bound side of the road.

Ordinance excerpt at December 14, 2022 Common Council meeting

The new law restricting vendor locations replaces the existing city ordinance that currently prohibits sales to a narrow downtown area of the city. The current ordinance prohibited the mobile sale of “merchandise, food or drinks” from:

parked vehicles or mobile units on Main Street between North Street and Franklin Square or on Franklin Square from Main Street to Whiting Street or on any street which intersects Main Street or Franklin Square for a distance of three thousand (3,000) feet from the point at which such street intersects Main Street or Franklin Square

Existing language in ordinance

The new law would also extend the limits and permit requirements on street vendors selling from private property. The current ordinance appears to apply only to selling on public streets.

The revised regulation leaves an existing restriction on vendors from selling near schools around the time of dismissal and further bans vending within 500 feet of restaurants. It extends the hours of outdoor vending sales from 6 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Until now vendors had to close by 7 p.m.

The existing ordinance provides for a $500 per year fee for the street vendors. The new law keeps this, but adds a new, “Itinerant Vendor Fee Schedule “one for “Permit Fee,” ranging from $50 to $185, and the other, with $500, except for “peddlers.” The range of fees lists three types of vendors that are not specified in the new language. The table also appears to add a new $250 “Public Way Green Zone licensing fee per location.” The new ordinance would require that “no more than two itinerant vendors shall be permitted to operate within any single Public Way Green Zone at a time. Vendors must remain within the green stripped area in the approved locations.”