Dispute delays street food sales in Minneapolis

As applicants for mobile food vending licenses still waited Friday for permission to set up in downtown Minneapolis, backstage infighting over the issue went on between two influential downtown figures.

Some 13 applications are pending while regulatory and public works staffers are caught between contrary pressures exerted by City Council Member Lisa Goodman and Sarah Harris, who heads operations for a service district created last year by downtown businesses.

Goodman led the revision of city ordinances this year that was supposed to open up downtown to vendors of freshly made food from vans or trailers larger than the handcarts that have been allowed downtown.

But Harris, of the Downtown Improvement District (DID), has raised multiple objections. Her main contention is that the vans or trailers could damage the sidewalks for which downtown property owners are assessed, and could block retailers and passersby.

"We in the business community are fighting very hard not to have these vehicles up on the sidewalks," she said.

The issue is acute for the Nicollet Mall, where a weather-deteriorated base is causing more and more paving stones to wobble. Repairs just to keep the mall safe have reached $250,000 a year, Harris told city officials.

The city is requiring vendors to carry a hefty insurance policy that includes damage to property.

"While it is the goal of DID to see a vibrant and active downtown, it cannot be done at such a significant expense and burden to downtown property owners," Harris said, urging denial of several pending permits. The ordinance requires a public works denial of an application when a mobile vendor would impair a sidewalk or the movement of pedestrians or vehicles, or pose a safety hazard.

Goodman's office had hoped that the first licenses would be issued by Friday, but there was no confirmation that had happened from either regulatory officials or applicants. She suggested that DID's real issue is trying to protect downtown restaurants from competition, although the new law says vendors can't be within 100 feet of a restaurant without permission.

Goodman said that Harris had a chance to raise objections earlier in discussions leading to the mobile-vendor ordinance. Harris said those discussions showed illustrations of smaller-scale vehicles. The DID's role is only advisory, but Goodman said it is influencing public works officials who must sign off on locations before business licensing officials can issue licenses.

Meanwhile, Goodman's office disputed claims by vendors that the new licenses cost more than $1,000 annually. It said there's a one-time fee of $122 and an annual fee of $483.