PHILADELPHIA, PA – A new city ordinance will further regulate the presence of food vendors on Main Campus. A total of 50 spots will be assigned to vendors; 36 to food trucks and 14 to food carts.

Locations will be regulated to a box bounded by Diamond, 10th, Oxford and 16th streets. No vendors will be allowed on 13th Street due to construction. Most food trucks are to be located on Norris Street and Montgomery Avenue, while food carts will be grouped around the Student Center and Tyler School of Art.

“This limits the number of vendors on campus, but it allows most legal vendors to stay,” said Beverly Coleman, the assistant vice president for Community Relations and Economic Development. “We would get a lot of calls and complaints when a new vendor showed up and took a spot, but we couldn’t do anything about it.”

“It’s creating order in the district,” said Rafael de Luna, owner of the food truck El Guaco Loco and member of the Philadelphia Mobile Food Association. “There’s an unwritten rule that certain trucks have certain spots.”

The new ordinance will also require some vendors to make a switch from a generator-powered truck or cart to the use of power cords.

A number of vendors are concerned about the high cost of power cords, which can be between $3,000 and $6,000, de Luna said. He added vendors may be looking to hire a single installer to reduce the overall cost.

“I think it’s a good thing,” said Virginia Apostolopoulos, owner of The Creperie Truck. “They don’t have to go out and get gas in the middle of the day and then worry about losing a spot. It’ll be easier.”

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