Des Moines food truck vendors and advocates won a major battle this year.

On April 6, the Des Moines City Council approved an ordinance creating a six-month pilot program for mobile food vendors, giving them the ability to set up shop on downtown streets for the first time in the city’s history. While the pilot program does not replace the city’s transient merchant ordinance – one that imposed restrictive rules and regulations on mobile vendors, often turning potential food truck owners away from the business — it does offer owners a model that ideally will translate to better business and more food trucks entering the industry.

April 17 marked the first day of the pilot program. But while the initial battle was won, the work is far from over.

For the next six months, both food truck vendors, city officials, and the newly-created Des Moines food truck association, Legion of Food, will work to ensure the pilot program is a success and that food trucks remain on Des Moines streets for a long time to come.

But how will success be measured, and what parts of the pilot program might cause hiccups in that success? Though Des Moines has created a pilot program that, for the most part, works for all involved, the food truck business is not a one-size-fits-all model.
Stars align for food truck advocates

Two years ago, former Des Moines City Manager Rick Clark landed in an airplane seat next to Zachary Mannheimer, executive director of the Des Moines Social Club, during the Greater Des Moines Partnership’s annual trip to Washington D.C. Mannheimer unabashedly admits to using the three-hour trip to chew off Clark’s ear about his wish list for Des Moines. On that list? Food trucks. 

“If you want to create street life in your city, what better way to do that than with street food?” he said.

Mannheimer eventually brought his ideas for food trucks to the Des Moines City Council. However, last year, the game changed when he was asked to serve as a judge of sustainability projects created by Drake University law students.

That was the day Mannheimer joined forces with Kelly Ramsey, a second-year law student at Drake, who added a new level of legitimacy to his claims that food trucks would be good for city life and culture in Des Moines.

For Ramsey’s sustainability in law class, students partnered with the Des Moines Metropolitan Planning Organization to examine sustainability issues affecting the city and how to best address them while staying in line with The Tomorrow Plan. Food trucks surfaced as an idea Ramsey wanted to tackle.

“I moved here from California, and I always thought it was odd food trucks weren’t here,” Ramsey said. “It didn’t make sense, so we delved into that – figuring out why Des Moines had no food trucks and what we could do to solve that.”

The reason can be traced back to 2009 when the City of Des Moines encountered issues with mobile vendors in the Southeast 14th Street neighborhood. Kandi Reindl, assistant to the Des Moines city manager and the staff member overseeing the implementation of the city’s food truck pilot program, recalled past problems, which prompted the creation of the city’s transient merchant ordinance.

“It was kind of a blight on that area. People were selling everything they could from trucks,” Reindl said. “We needed more regulations, and the council spent a lot of time coming up with that ordinance.”

The transient merchant ordinance requires all mobile vendors to be located on private property with permission from property owners. Trucks are required to be parked within 500 feet of a bathroom, and in an area that provides parking for customers. The ordinance helped weed out unwanted merchants from the city, Reindl said.

Prior to the pilot program’s approval, 25 mobile vendors were listed as having transient merchant permits.

But as food trucks emerged as a trend, Des Moines’ transient merchant ordinance remained the same, Ramsey said, which limited the number of entrepreneurs wanting to start a food truck. Prior to the pilot program’s launch, Des Moines’ mobile food vendors included taco trucks and The Spot, co-owned by Alba and Eatery A general manager Ben Norris.

“The restrictions of that ordinance were very myopic, and were just too much for most potential food truck owners to deal with,” Ramsey said.

Ramsey and her classmates went on a mission to figure out how to solve this problem. The end result was a 60-page report detailing the importance of food trucks to a community’s economic growth, as well as how food trucks could improve a city’s walkability, culture and vibrancy.

On Dec. 1, Ramsey presented the report to the Des Moines City Council. Once the presentation was complete, the council made the decision to pursue the possibility of a new ordinance and the creation of a pilot program.

The city took it from there. Officials formed a task force and looked at other communities with food truck programs as models, Reindl said, including Iowa City and Minneapolis.

The final ordinance saw some dissent, garnering a 4-1-1 approval by the city council. Councilman Chris Coleman voted against it following the final reading, while Councilman Joe Gatto, owner of Baratta’s Restaurant and Catering in Des Moines, abstained from voting on the final two readings due to a declared conflict of interest. Regardless, Reindl said city staff is excited and optimistic about the pilot program. 

“The food truck phenomenon is crossing the entire nation, and everyone wants this available to them,” Reindl said. “Our employee base downtown is younger. They’ve seen this, they’ve tried it in other cities, and we want to advance it in our city in order to cater to every generation that lives here.”

Restaurant Association, owners support ordinance — with provisions

Many brick-and-mortar restaurant owners and advocates support the final pilot program, including Jeff Duncan, operations manager with Two Rivers Hospitality, the company that owns Dos Rios and Big City Burgers & Greens in downtown Des Moines. Duncan is also on the board of directors of the Iowa Restaurant Association.

“At first, we obviously had some concerns, but we brought those up in meetings before the pilot program was approved,” Duncan said. 

The Iowa Restaurant Association came out in favor of the  pilot program once parameters protecting brick and mortar restaurants were established within ordinance language, according to Jessica Dunker, president of the association.

“We have seen food truck models run successfully in other cities, but we’ve also seen them run unsuccessfully,” she said. “We believe these Greater Des Moines food trucks are on the path to success by using zones and involving brick and mortar restaurants in the conversation.”

In addition to stressing the importance of health safety and sanitation, the Iowa Restaurant Association also wanted to protect restaurant concepts. 

“For instance, we wouldn’t want a barbecue food truck just 100 feet from a barbecue restaurant,” Dunker said.

Duncan said he wanted reassurance that zones would be established in areas where food trucks were most needed.

“We talked to people out in Washington and in San Francisco who have been at the forefront of this movement, and a lot of times, they didn’t establish laws that were in-depth enough,” he said. 

Duncan doesn’t predict a completely smooth ride through the pilot program, anticipating some issues will arise as the months progress. Regardless, he thinks the program is a good start for something the city needs.

Ingredients for success

While the ordinance is in the city’s hands, ensuring the success of the pilot program falls mostly on food truck owners and members of the newly-formed Legion of Food, a nonprofit association comprised of both current and future food truck owners. 

The organization – formed in preparation for the pilot program with the help of Ramsey and food truck owners Dwight Lykins, Matt Smith, and Mannheimer, who owns Powered by Fries with Proof co-founder Sean Wilson – will be the advocacy group for food trucks moving forward. Association members will be enforcers, too – the eyes and ears during the pilot program, ensuring vendors abide by regulations. 

Those who are part of the association pay $100 in annual dues, used to maintain the association’s website and eventually create a smartphone app. It is not mandatory for food truck vendors to be a member of the association.

“There were two approaches we could take,” Mannheimer said. “We could go every man for himself and make the environment super-competitive, or we could level the playing field and make this work for everyone, which is a very Des Moines-ian thing to do.”

The association helped create the four specific zones for food trucks, Mannheimer said, because it makes it easier for everyone, from customers to city officials to police, to locate vendors and keep track of where they park. He added it likely will be the beginning of May before zones populate with food trucks.

But how will Legion of Food and vendors determine whether the pilot program’s six-month run is successful?

“It’s pretty simple — we’ll measure by asking, ‘are food trucks making money?’” Mannheimer said. 

But success goes beyond that. Truck owners also will consider success from a cultural perspective. Is the public accepting food trucks? Are more people out on the streets? Are there lines around the corner waiting to get food? Are customers demanding more? 

“By the end of the pilot program, we should know definitively whether or not this is working,” Mannheimer said.

It’s as much a pilot program for food truck owners as it is the city, he  added. The duration of the pilot program will determine what zones see the highest volume of customers and foot traffic, and at what specific times and spots within those zones. For now, the association will play a role in which zones food trucks will set up in and on what days.

“We’re going to get very specific with our data,” Mannheimer said. “By then, everyone will want to set up in those best spots, and it will still be up to us to ensure trucks get as much time in those spots as possible, to be fair. We don’t want more than two or three trucks next to each other at any given time, and we want to make sure we offer variety so we’re not putting two pizza trucks next to each other.”

For the City of Des Moines, Reindl said the city will measure success by the number of complaints received and how many people are frequenting food trucks when out. The city plans to have a zoning inspector patrol the food truck zones to ensure all rules and regulations are being followed. 

The city also will examine violations on a case by case basis, Reindl said, adding “one bad apple” won’t spoil the program’s success for the other food truck vendors.

“A lot of times our inspection will be complaint-driven,” Reindl said. “If an inspector drives by or any complaints are received, the police will handle it.”

Gauging the economic impact of food trucks in dollars will be tough to measure, most agreed, but measuring economic success is much larger than taxes and dollars collected, Mannheimer said.

“If you’re coming out to a food truck, it’s probably because you’re downtown for something else,” Mannheimer said. “I’d love it if people came down just to eat my fries and leave. That’s not going to happen, though. You have to ask what else will food trucks stimulate? Do you see more people on the streets after food trucks? If so, they’re probably spending money in other places downtown.”

Potential bumps in the road

Are there rules or regulations that might cause the pilot program to fail? It’s unlikely to happen, Mannheimer believes, especially given the support for food trucks in Des Moines. Still, if he had his way, the permit fee put in place by the city would be lower.

Prior to the pilot program’s launch, the city approved the mobile vendor permit fee at $900 for the six-month program. The fee includes the actual permit as well as the meter hood, which covers parking costs for vendors. The meter hood and deposit makes up a bulk of the fee at $625. Vendors must also obtain insurance and a health permit from the state of Iowa. Cost of that permit is $27. 

Should a food truck – or a truck combined with its tow trailer – measure longer than 25 feet, owners are required to secure two meter hoods, which would tack an additional $625 onto a vendor’s fees.

Mannheimer said the average permit fee, according to research done by the association, is about $500 for 12 months. 

“Here, it’s nearly double just for the pilot program and nearly quadrupled for an entire year,” he said. “The permit fee is ridiculous. Setting the precedent for fees to be $1,800 per year — that’s just unsustainable. At the time, most of these people don’t have money to open a brick and mortar restaurant. The permit fee is a hindrance to potential food truck and restaurant owners.”

Ramsey, who penned the original pilot program language, said approximately 75 percent of what she proposed turned up in the final ordinance approved by city council members. Ramsey fought for extending hours to 3 a.m. and the allowance of food trucks on Court Avenue, but those proposals were not included in the final ordinance. City officials cited public safety as the reason for requiring food trucks to stay off Court Avenue and pack up before bar close.

One thing Ramsey didn’t push for was the removal of the stipulation requiring food trucks to park at least 100 feet away from a brick-and-mortar restaurant’s entrance. The requirement remained to assuage concerns and fear from restaurant owners that food trucks might detract from their business.

One national expert thinks that might not be the best idea. Matt Geller, CEO of the National Food Truck Association and the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association in California, said all rules in a food truck program should focus on public health and public safety.

“As soon as you veer into creating rules that protect one business over another business, it will fail,” Geller said. “It’s not a good system when the government decides where citizens should spend money.” Read more of what Geller had to say about Des Moines’ pilot program on page 9.

Still, Ramsey called the 100-foot rule a “give and take” for food trucks.

“The whole purpose of the original ordinance was to ensure public safety and wellness, not to discourage competition,” she said. “That’s not the purpose of government. It’s kind of un-American to do that, and it’s not beneficial to the general public.”

Since food trucks don’t come with dining areas, cannot sell liquor, and are unable to operate 24 hours per day or during the winter months, Ramsey said the opportunities for food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants to coexist are great. 

“Those are all things restaurant owners have to remember,” she said. “And most are seeing this opportunity can be lucrative for everyone.” 

Dunker attributes finding that common ground by food truck vendors and brick and mortar restaurant owners keeping the lines of communication open. Doing so allowed for a successful transition.

“It creates a more cohesive relationship between the two so neither group feels excluded,” she said. “We’re trying to keep all lines of communication open and honest to head off any questions or concerns we have in the early stages.”

The road beyond the pilot program

Who has the most to lose if the pilot program is unsuccessful? That would be food truck owners, according to Mannheimer.

“The risk is all on us, not the city,” Mannheimer said. “If this doesn’t work, it’s no skin off the city’s back. They’re not the ones holding the price tag if it fails.”

Through the duration of the pilot program, Legion of Food representatives will meet monthly with the city to address concerns. Once the program concludes in October, the city will conduct a debriefing using all information collected from city staff and food truck owners to decide how to proceed and whether or not the program will remain downtown.

Reindl said city staff and vendors likely will look at potential addition of zones and where those might be located. They also will consider relocating existing zones if one or more don’t prove profitable for trucks. 

Does that mean food trucks might find a home on Court Avenue? 

Reindl said she doubts it. 

“However, we may look into having the hours go possibly later into the evening,” she added. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Food trucks will do great things to the Des Moines restaurant scene, Dunker said. Not only does it allow for a more “boutique food” option in downtown Des Moines, but it gives fledgling entrepreneurs a chance to try out an idea. Brick and mortar restaurant owners can capitalize on the new industry, too. 

“It’s a cost-effective option for those who don’t have the capital to open a restaurant to get their foot in the market,” she said. “It also gives brick and mortar restaurants the opportunity to sell their best menu items and show that their restaurants could be destinations for customers in areas across the state.”

There’s also a chance a succesful pilot program will spawn more food trucks, and Duncan, owner of Dos Rios and Big City Burgers & Greens, may be among them.

“We’re weighing out advantages and disadvantages and how we can get the most out of food trucks as well,” he said. “After we put the new Big City location out west, we may tie in a food truck to that expansion. There’s no timeline on that, but it’s definitely in the cards.”

What other big ideas will the food truck pilot program inspire? Mannheimer said he hopes to see the market get more competitive, experimental and interesting, and that it sends a message to others around the city who might have an idea.

“Thirty or 40 years ago, our vision for this city was limited, but that’s not the case now. Our energy is awake and people want to see changes like this,” he said. “I hope this signals to others out there that if they have an idea, they can go to the right people, lobby, and make it work.”

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Pilot program details

The final pilot program, which starts April 17 and ends Oct. 31, designates four zones in downtown Des Moines in which food trucks may park. Those zones are located in the East Village and Western Gateway near the sculpture park, as well as near Wells Fargo Arena and DART Central Station. Parking meters will be bagged — or blocked off — for use by food trucks, which will be allowed to operate between the hours of 5:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. Trucks are not allowed anywhere on Court Avenue or on Locust Street between Fourth and Sixth Streets due to the number of restaurants located in those areas. In all zones, trucks are required to be at least 100 feet from the entrance to any brick and mortar restaurant or residence. Vendors must also store food and conduct any preparation in a commercial or commissary kitchen.

While transient merchant permits are still available, the mobile vendor permit is more beneficial to existing and future food truck owners, Ramsey said.

Despite those benefits, there were ideas not included in the ordinance that proponents hoped made the final draft.

“Ideally, we wanted multilevel permits for different trucks with different goals,” she added. “That, and sustainability issues were never addressed. Recycling containers, emission standards for trucks — none of it was addressed in the final ordinance.”

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Analysis

National expert weighs in on viability of Des Moines effort

Matt Geller is no stranger to the food truck industry.

Geller is CEO and founder of the National Food Truck Association and the SoCal Mobile Food Vendors Association, a nonprofit organization representing upwards of 130 mobile vendors in California. On the forefront of the food truck movement for years, Geller has successfully expanded the rights of mobile vendors in more than 25 jurisdictions. 

Geller, a California resident who’s also a lawyer, assists groups of mobile vendors seeking to replicate the mobile vendor association model. He’s assisted in establishing advocacy organizations in cities including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, Central Ohio and Baton Rouge. Geller also consulted for Kelly Ramsey, the Drake law student who penned the original Des Moines food truck pilot program, when she assisted in the creation of both it and the food truck association.

In the last three years, Geller sued 13 different Southern California municipalities, challenging rules and regulations that had one thing in common. Geller won all 13 cases. From an advocacy standpoint, the same food truck pilot programs and rules can’t be applied to every city, he said. Regardless, there are some best practices cities can employ. Geller stressed that public health and safety should be the cornerstone of all public policy related to mobile vending. 

That’s what those 13 cases he won had in common — the rules and regulations had nothing to do with public health and safety. Among municipal rules challenged were time limits imposed on mobile vendors and requiring food trucks to park a mandatory distance away from existing restaurants. 

Other best practices, he said, include making sure the public knows where food trucks are located and ensuring vendors guaranteed access to parking spots, as well as ensuring public walkable access. He also discourages municipalities who place a cap on the number of permits issued to vendors.

Geller said Des Moines’ pilot program appears to be standard. He noted the allowed hours of operation seem generous compared to most cities with food trucks. But Des Moines’ rule requiring food trucks to stay 100 feet away from existing brick and mortar restaurants isn’t ideal or in the interest of public health and safety. 

“What happens if a truck creates this amazing space where it’s allowed, and what happens if that truck gets kicked out if a restaurant moves in? That’s troubling,” Geller said. “It’s the same thing if the government suddenly decided Netflix couldn’t deliver to houses within 200 feet of a video store. Protecting someone else’s financial interests is unthinkable to most Americans. If police are protecting a business over the public, I would be upset.”

Geller said Des Moines food truck vendors should gauge success on participation, adding that if Des Moines food trucks will thrive under the pilot program, all involved will figure it out quickly.

“Are people getting the most out of the food trucks? Are they happy with it?” he said. “The city can go a long way in promoting it. Let people know where trucks will be, because in the end, people just want to experience this great new industry.”

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Lessons from Iowa City?

Rules for food trucks tweaked after lukewarm response to Iowa City pilot program

A year ago, Iowa City stood in the same spot as Des Moines. The city launched its own pilot program to allow food trucks to operate within the city. During the program, food trucks were allowed to set up shop at Chauncey Swan Park, located just outside of downtown Iowa City. 

In all, six food truck vendors participated in the pilot program, but only two rode out its duration.

“They dropped out because business wasn’t as steady as they needed it to be,” said Geoff Fruin, Iowa City assistant city manager. “We couldn’t develop a system to assign a time and space and expect them to find success. We thought we had a great, easily accessible location, but at the end of the day, we didn’t.”

The city did not garner formal feedback from customers or ask food truck vendors to track sales. However, Fruin said both the city and food trucks gauged interest through social media and word of mouth, and while it was clear interest in food trucks existed, stationing the trucks in a single location proved to be more prohibiting in attracting both new and repeat customers. 

When Iowa City’s pilot program concluded in November, city officials sat down with vendors to garner feedback. Fruin said the city came to the conclusion that to be successful, vendors needed more freedom.

And freedom is an integral part of the city’s revised food truck ordinance. The new rules, which the city is expected to approve after a third and final reading on April 21, will allow food truck vendors to receive a permit to operate from any city street, so long as trucks are legally parked in public parking spots and not parked in downtown Iowa City or in a residential area.

“Anywhere a commercial vehicle is allowed to park, these trucks can set up and vend from those spots,” Fruin said. “Even with the downtown restriction, there are still plenty of opportunities for food trucks to serve (University of Iowa) students and the population of downtown.” 

Food trucks are required to pay parking fees if parked in metered spots, and can only remain there for up to three hours. Trucks also cannot park within 150 feet of a brick and mortar restaurant’s entrance, essentially eliminating any area in Iowa City’s core downtown. As part of the new ordinance, the city will extend the hours of operation for food trucks, allowing them to set up anywhere from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

Allowing vendors more freedom is the biggest change to Iowa City’s new ordinance, and Fruin said the city hopes it will be the biggest success driver. 

“Every community is a little different. When we started our pilot program and picked a location, we were aware of some cities that had designated parks that thrived,” Fruin said. “But what’s right for Iowa City might not be right for Des Moines… . At the end of the day, you have to tailor the program to the uniqueness 
of your community.”