Popular food trucks “Happy Sunshine Lunch Truck”, “Pete’s Little Lunchbox”, Lucky Star, and others outside of Bentley residence hall on the corner of 33rd and Arch street have been given notice on Wednesday, March 26, that they will no longer be allowed to park overnight as of Tuesday, April 4.
When asked for a statement, Pete’s Little Lunchbox stated that leaving each night and coming back was not feasible for them due to the amount of work it already takes to maintain operations, and the uncertainty of parking availability. As a result they announced they would have to shut down.
“We do it for the Drexel students, but having to leave and come back would be even more tiring, and too much after 17 years,” Pete’s told The Triangle.
When asked for a statement, Drexel University provided The Triangle with the following statement:
“Food trucks have long been a part of the fabric of University City with many located around Drexel University’s campus at any given time. The University supports this vending tradition as a food option for its community. Drexel and the City of Philadelphia also must ensure the safety of pedestrians and patrons of food trucks. The University is reminding vendors of street vending rules, established by the City, that require these vendors to adhere to health and maintenance codes, hours of operation, parking and other safety regulations. These rules restrict trucks from operating between midnight and 7 a.m. and prevent them from being left unattended overnight on a sidewalk or public property.”
This is not the first time that Drexel has tried to remove food trucks from campus. In 2017, city council passed an ordinance in partnership with Drexel that would have restricted trucks on campus past 12:30am. This was the first time of many attempts by Drexel and the City to stop food trucks on campus. In 2020, then Philadelphia Mayor Kenney vetoed a law that would have restricted food trucks on campus, after students and community members protested and signed a petition to stop the change.
A petition on Change.org created by Drexel student Claire Toomey has begun circulating on social media with the intention of asking “the school to heavily reconsider and reverse this shameful decision to support our beloved small businesses.”
Currently it is not clear what rule or enforcement mechanism Drexel is using to restrict the time that food trucks are allowed to be on campus. It is unclear what caused Drexel to determine April 4 as the deadline for the removal of the food trucks.
Pete’s and Happy Sunshine both theorized that overnight restrictions might have something to do with the new building that is going up on 33rd St.