Food trucks play musical chairs as numbers surge in Toronto
Owners say it's increasingly hard to find places to set up shop.

TheStar.com
June 12, 2017
Laura Howells

By 8:30 a.m., Randy Kangal has already been downtown in his food truck for an hour.

He won’t start selling roti and jerk chicken until lunchtime. But he’s got to get here early if he wants one of the coveted parking spots near University Ave. and College St.

For food trucks in Toronto, finding a place to sell can be a game of musical chairs. As soon as on-street parking starts, you have to be ready to pounce — or risk losing a day of business.

It’s not just a matter of finding a free space. Only two food trucks are allowed per city block, and trucks have to be at least 30 metres away from any restaurant. In a foodie city like Toronto, that can pose a challenge.

City council further relaxed the rules around food trucks in May 2015 — the new regulations reduced the distance between food trucks and restaurants from 50 to 30 metres, and increased the time food trucks could operate from three to five hours. Two years later, the number of food trucks in Toronto has been steadily growing — but so has the competition for good parking.

As of May 25, the city has already issued 60 mobile vending permits for food trucks this year, up from 55 for all of 2016. In 2014, there were only 16 permitted food trucks.

After driving in from Mississauga, Kangal usually waits around on a side street for a while. But at 8:30, it’s time to start circling the block.

“You have to try to get in there before your competitor beats you to it,” says Kangal, driving the Randy’s Roti truck up and down University. He turns on both College and Dundas St., eyeing his favourite place near the hospital.

“Move early, be organized . . . It’s very tiring at times.”

The FeasTO food truck rounds the corner, and co-owner Cameron Pounder flashes the peace sign. Pounder says the parking prowl was particularly hard when he first started.

“The stress in the morning with no coffee yet — it’s pretty rough,” says Pounder.

It’s gotten easier, but he and co-owner Ada Mok still circle the streets for an hour each morning to secure their space. If there’s two trucks allowed per block, he said, there’s often three trucks hunting. Once they can park at 9:30, it’s a matter of waiting around until lunchtime.

Mok says that that with the restrictions on where they can park, she definitely notices the increase.

“The good spots are actually so few and far between that with this many new trucks, there aren’t good spots for everyone,” she said, adding it would make more sense if the 30-metre buffer zone was for just for restaurants on the same side of the street.

Carleton Grant, with Municipal Licensing and Standards, says the increase in food trucks shows the new regulations are working.

But Zane Caplansky, president of the Toronto Food Truck Alliance, says he’s upset the city hasn’t looked at the regulations more recently.

Caplansky calls the 30-metre rule “outrageous,” saying there should be no distance requirements between food trucks and restaurants. He also wants the city to look at fixed spots for food trucks, as well as allowing more trucks per block.

Mayor John Tory said it’s unlikely that council will review food truck regulations in 2017, but said they’ll likely take another look next year.

The 30-metre rule was determined after “painstaking” negotiations, he said, and would take a “pretty powerful case” to reopen.

Tony Elenis, president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association, said food trucks are in direct competition with independent fast food restaurants, which have higher operating costs and taxes. He said that with Ontario set to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, the industry can’t afford any changes that might hurt business.

Melanie Christou, who owns the Get Skewered food truck, understands restaurant owners’ concerns. But she thinks a 15-metre buffer might be more reasonable given the number of eateries downtown. Right now, she says, finding a spot requires “masterful” timing.