SASKATOON – Delicious delicacies served up from a food truck on a downtown Saskatoon street – it’s only an idea right now as city bylaws restrict restaurants on wheels from operating.
The city is working to change this and meals on wheels could have been allowed as early as May 1 however councillors still have some questions and sent the proposal back to city administration for answers.
Further questions, and resistance, have come from the restaurant industry. Forty restauranteurs have signed a petition against food trucks, a move Christie Peters considers unnecessary.
Peters has been offering fresh, sustainable dining from The Hollows on Avenue C for a year and a half. Prior to that, she was a restaurant chef in Vancouver where food trucks roam the streets. According to Peters, the food trucks are competition for fast food joints, not dine in restaurants. Rather than direct competition, Peters says the food trucks can help restaurant businesses “getting people out walking around on the streets, more foot traffic is a benefit for all businesses.”
According to the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce, if the city can satisfy restaurants and food trucks without giving either an advantage, then the competition is nothing but positive. What is concerning to the chamber are food trucks occupying valuable downtown parking stalls.
The original report from city administration suggested offsetting the lost parking meter revenue by charging owners of food trucks $2,300 annually for a parking meter hood.
The report goes back to council on May 21. If approved, Saskatoonian’s tastebuds could be satisfied as early as this summer.
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