The City of Madison Downtown Coordinating Committee heard a proposal last week that would establish the 700 and 800 blocks of State Street as late night vending zones 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
In an email statement to The Badger Herald, City of Madison Street Vending Coordinator Meghan Blake-Horst said if the program receives full approval, licenses for individual vendors and site assignments in State Street Mall will be distributed, giving the vendors a green light to operate Wednesday through Saturday nights.
“It’s going to be different, bringing them back to State Street Mall at night,” Blake-Horst said. “We know it’s very successful during the day and the area is designed for this type of activity. And so we’re hopeful and optimistic that the location with a lot of the construction and changes in the downtown area will be a good location.”
Blake-Horst said the Vending Oversight Committee has been working on late night vending on State Street for several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the planning and community outreach processes.
During the committee meeting, the operating time for State Street late night vending was amended from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. to the current proposal of 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., Blake-Horst said in the email statement.
Members from both the Downtown Coordinating Committee and the Madison City Council recommended another time change that would end vending times at 2:30 a.m. instead of 12:30 a.m., though this change was not adopted, according to a written statement from District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan.
Govindarajan said the current proposal of 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. begins too late for dinner and ends too early for post-bar time. While some hope the earlier time frame will address safety concerns, Govindarajan said specific safety concerns have yet to be identified.
Instead, Govindarajan said vendors may be disadvantaged with this timing due to having fewer customers.
“The program is good as long as it works for students, I’ve proposed to allow the food trucks onto State Street from 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., which is a fair compromise allowing later access to food while ensuring safety concerns are still kept in mind,” Govindarajan said in the statement.
Blake-Horst said the approval of the State Street Vending program shouldn’t negatively impact existing establishments known for being hot spots for late night business. Of the 23 food carts in operation during the lunch hour, the Vending Oversight Committee is only recommending five for the late night program.
“I foresee it being complementary and not competitive,” Blake-Horst said. “I don’t think the program will decrease anyone’s business because most of the businesses that are open at that hour already have more business than they can handle.”
The Vending Oversight Committee will review the proposal Feb. 28 before moving to the Madison City Council March 3, Govindarajan said.
