Why Alexandria has far fewer food trucks than DC, Arlington, and Fairfax

GovernmentBy Joanne Tang (Editorial Board) March 31, 2017

Food trucks often line busy streets in DC, like this. That isn't the case in Alexandria. Image by Ted Eytan licensed under Creative Commons.

If you step out for lunch in a dense part of DC or Arlington, there’s a good chance one of your options will be a food truck. In Alexandria, not so much. That’s because there are tight restrictions on where trucks can do business and permits cost a lot more than in most other places around the region.

Only six vendors have permits to operate in the city. By comparison, when I spoke to someone at the Arlington County’s Public Health Department, they said the number there is about 150. Fairfax County said that at the end of 2016, there were 150 trucks, push carts, and trailers permitted to operate in the county and of these, the majority were food trucks.

Food trucks have been allowed in Alexandria since 2014, but only in select locations

In 2014, Alexandria began to feel out how to regulate food trucks in the city. Residents and business owners were divided over whether to allow the trucks, with many residents saying they were concerned about parking, pollution, the aesthetics of the food trucks on the streets, and food safety. Restaurateurs were concerned that food trucks would affect business.

Doug Povich, former Chairman of the DMV Food Truck Association, a member of the Alexandria Food Truck Policy Advisory Group that proposed food truck regulations in 2014, and owner of the Red Hook Lobster Pound truck said that the majority of Alexandria residents “were not so excited about food trucks.”

The council proceeded with a pilot program, but restricted food trucks to only operate at off-street locations, like parks.

The restrictions on where trucks could operate made it hard for them to find business, and the program was a disappointment because very few trucks signed up. After studying the results, city council members concluded that restrictions on parking and vending had prevented food trucks from being successful.

Restrictions loosened up last year, but they’re still pretty tight

In 2016, Alexandria council members voted to allow food trucks to park on the street, but it kept vendors restricted to three mobile vending zones at the Braddock Road, King Street, and Eisenhower Metro stops. This meant not allowing trucks to park farther along King Street toward the waterfront, a major thoroughfare for pedestrians and businesses in Old Town.

Where Alexandria allows food trucks. Click for a larger version.  Image by The City of Alexandria.

Trucks can also park at certain parks, at the weekly farmers’ market, and on property not owned by the city as long as they have permission from whoever owns the property. While this is a step up from the previous restrictions, the city selected the three mobile vending zones without considering where customers would gather. This has continued to limit food trucks’ ability to find customers.

Povich said that the city should have allowed food trucks to determine the best places for business before setting up zones.

“Nobody knows, including people who have done this for years, what is going to be a good location until you try it out. When we talk to jurisdictions about creating regulations or changing existing ones, we try to tell them the importance of flexibility,” he said.

“If we were closer to Old Town, we would get more foot traffic,” said Gloria Saylor, who owns Ada’s Kitchen on Wheels. She said that business in Alexandria is growing, and that it was still worthwhile for her to operate in Alexandria. “Other trucks may feel discouraged because they can’t get the numbers they need to be successful.”

Povich said that the association has had success placing food trucks every Tuesday at the US Patent and Trademark Office, but that was because the association worked with the building administrators to make room for food trucks— an operation that fell outside of Alexandria’s plan.

Fairfax and Arlington’s food truck laws aren’t as restrictive

Like Alexandria City, Fairfax County and Arlington restrict where trucks can sell food. In Tysons, it’s certain streets with speed limits under 35 miles per hour and in Arlington, Lynn Street in Rosslyn restricts all parking to under one hour.

But despite the restrictions, food trucks in Tysons and Arlington can still park near busy office hubs.

In 2015, food trucks started rolling around “The Boro” in Tysons. Located at the intersection of Greensboro Drive and Solutions Drive right outside the headquarters of Booz Allen Hamilton, developers built a parklet with tables and chairs. The parklet was recently razed for incoming development and when it is relocated, the food trucks can return.

Arlington County and the Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID) partnered to pilot a food truck program from 2015 to 2016, placing trucks in four zones throughout the neighborhood. The Crystal City BID has hosted “Food Truck Thursdays” for several years.

Start-up fees for food trucks in Alexandria are through the roof

Another reason for Alexandria’s food truck woes may be the fees to operate in the city. While the initial $250 Mobile Food Truck Vendor fee was waived in 2016, fees are still high. Alexandria’s operating permits and fee for food trucks are $776 per year, not including the $200 one-time fee for a Health Department review.

A breakdown of the fees in Alexandria:

Povich said other jurisdictions charge a lot less, around $500, and that he isn't aware of other jurisdictions that charge an application fee. While other jurisdictions have fees that Alexandria does not have, like an individual vendor license, these are smaller costs compared to the rates Alexandria charges.

Without a large population of workers and tourists to sustain business, many food trucks don’t see the benefit to operating in Alexandria. High fees make it harder for trucks to survive the wait as their customer base builds.

It’s hard for food trucks to establish a presence in Alexandria

Saylor said she thinks all of this results in people not knowing that Alexandria has many food trucks in the first place.

“We’re not sure how consistent we can be until we can increase awareness [of food trucks],” Saylor said. She said the city has not been very proactive to advertise the program, and that while social media and email newsletters have been effective, the onus has been on the food truck vendors to increase word-of-mouth and awareness.

“The city, to my knowledge, hasn’t done anything to raise awareness,” adds Povich, noting that without some help from the city, it’s hard for food trucks to really buy into Alexandria. “[Food truck vendors] have to be willing to commit to a schedule to develop any kind of frequency. You’re committing to slow sales while customers build up.”

One thing I think is worth considering is that Old Town Alexandria residents tend to be older than residents of other cities, and perhaps older than many of the people who simply work in Alexandria. That could add to the city’s reluctance to welcome food trucks with open arms because non-residents are less likely to influence the government.

“Millennials are used to food trucks, but older people are not,” Saylor said.

There are numerous, connected reasons why Alexandria is a food truck desert. Restrictions on where trucks can go mean they may have to park farther from where customers typically walk to get food. Permits and fees are expensive, which squeezes out less established trucks from trying to vend in Alexandria and makes it harder for them to recoup their initial costs. Furthermore, Alexandria residents and workers haven't yet developed an awareness of food trucks in the city.

These aren’t issues aren’t insurmountable, though. DC, now a vibrant city for food trucks, has faced similar hurdles before. Alexandria should be able to as well.