Councillor Roy Avellaneda
I have recently been contacted by people who were told that I opposed the presence of food trucks in Chelsea.
This is completely untrue. I support food trucks in our city. In fact, when I served as the site coordinator for the Chelsea Latin American Music Festival, I made sure to include food trucks to help make the event a success.
That said, I did vote against a food truck-zoning ordinance that was brought before the city council because I had concerns about two important aspects that were missing from the proposal.
First, the ordinance did not provide a clear process for determining where the trucks would be located. In cities like Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge, designated areas are set aside for food trucks to prevent them from negatively affecting local restaurants. I believe the Parking Commission should be responsible for selecting these locations rather than allowing food trucks to operate without any restrictions.
Second, I wanted food trucks to be registered in Chelsea so that the excise taxes and meal taxes collected from their operations would benefit the city. If a food truck is registered in Somerville but operates in Chelsea, all those taxes go to Somerville. I believe it is unfair for a food truck making money in Chelsea to send that revenue to another city. I also think it is unfair for brick-and-mortar restaurants, which pay property taxes and multiple licensing fees, to be at a disadvantage compared to food trucks that only pay a small fee to operate in Chelsea.
A number of my fellow council members shared my concerns and voted against the zoning ordinance. Shortly after the vote, I asked the City Attorney to assist in drafting a revised version of the ordinance. I was informed that we would need to wait two years according to Mass General Law.
Recently, the City Manager and Solicitor have informed me that we can allow food trucks by passing an ordinance instead of a zoning law.
If that is the case, we anticipate having a proposed food truck ordinance ready by June that will include provisions ensuring the city benefits financially from food trucks while also protecting existing brick-and-mortar food businesses in Chelsea.