"Nouveau" Food Trucks Trashing Venice
Residents, business owners tired of trucks trashing Abbot Kinney
By ANNIE GEFFROY and JENNA BRIAND
Updated 8:52 AM PDT, Tue, Dec 8, 2009
Roving "nouveau" food trucks (think Kogi and the like) may be LA's current claim to culinary fame, but some merchants and residents in Venice have a thing or two to say about the trash they leave behind.
The food trucks that line Abbott Kinney Blvd. on First Fridays (a tradition started by local business owners who offer free food, wine and celebration to entice shoppers and boost business) are giving residents more than Korean BBQ, reports Yo! Venice!
They're giving them a need for a new event: Clean-up Saturdays.
What's the solution? Regulations, they say.
There is currently only one regulation in place that controls the trucks -- they must have an agreement with a permanent business to provide a bathroom. Yo! Venice! suggests that businesses charge high fees for trucks to have access to the facilities.
“Noveau” mobile food trucks are not local businesses. The cost of cleaning up after them is eaten by the merchants unless reglations are in order.
By and large, other residents agree. Though at least one Venice resident thinks the trucks are worth the hassle.
"I love the food trucks," writes a Yo! Venice! reader. "I think they bring a lot to the neighborhood, and if it means that we have to clean up after them, big deal. I think the food trucks are a perfect addition to Venice – cheap, hip, multi-cultural, exciting, cutting-edge. Insisting that they pay huge licensing fees is something that Santa Monica would do."
We're guessing this reader isn't on clean-up duty.
First Published: Dec 7, 2009 10:53 AM PDT
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