BUFFALO, NY – A local senator wants to help the growing food truck industry thrive.
State Senator Tim Kennedy wants the state to determine how much each town or city can charge. This comes after a food truck controversy in Amherst, where town codes concerning food trucks are currently being written. And local leaders say he’s over-reaching.
For a quick lunch break outside Roswell Park Cancer Institute, some folks say nothing beats Lloyd Taco Truck.
“I love their tacos. Best tacos in town,” one woman said.
“I love this place,” another man beamed.
There are big fans who want to see more food trucks around, and Democratic State Senator Tim Kennedy is capitalizing on that sentiment. He proposes the state step in and limit the fees municipalities can charge mobile food vendors to just $250 a year.
Buffalo currently charges $1,000 a year, and Kennedy says that is stunting the potential growth of the food truck industry.
“What we’re trying to do is grow jobs in New York State. Grow jobs in western New York,” says Kennedy.
But Amherst Town Council Member Steve Sanders countered, “People eat as much as they eat. So either you go to a restaurant or you go to a food truck. The economy’s not going to grow more just because you put a food truck right in front of their workplace or wherever they happen to be at lunchtime.”
Find the entire article by Lou Raguse at wivb.com <here>