From Councilman John Hoffmann’s post on his Facebook page.  John really should use his talents as a writer more often (Inside joke between John and I, he is a Public Relations professional and uses his great abilities every day).

Last night, the Keller City Council voted against allowing a food truck park in Old Town Keller. The vote was 4-3, and I was one of the three votes (along with Council members Doug Miller and Tom Cawthra) who supported the proposal.

In my initial comments on the subject during the council meeting, I voiced support for the food truck park idea but let it be known I had some concerns about the variance requests related to lighting, the gravel parking surface and the dumpster. Eventually, I heard enough information to get past those concerns and vote in favor of this exciting, new concept. We were working toward granting the developer at two-year “specific use permit,” which is common for new ideas, so that we could give him a fair chance to make his business work. That also would have given us a chance in two years to tie his SUP renewal to making some improvements to meet more of the standards (such as the lighting, etc.).

I completely understand some of the comments made about not forgiving those standards now. We have held some businesses to our standards while also letting others slide. I was quoted in the newspaper as saying we have been “consistently inconsistent” about such things, and we’re going to have to rectify that at some point. (http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/07/17/4106852/keller-city-council-nixes-proposed.html)

But what astounded me were the comments made by an Old Town restaurant owner and some of my council colleagues that it “wasn’t fair” to allow the food trucks. They said the existing restaurants have spent so much money on their businesses, and we have to protect their investments. They claimed they are okay with competition, but apparently not this competition. They have been okay with the city helping existing restaurants with façade grants, parking improvements and better lighting, but not with helping this food truck park.

Talk about a double standard.

Last night’s vote was protectionism at its worst. Two years ago, we couldn’t beg business owners to open up shop in Old Town. The merchants wanted literally anything that would help bring traffic into that area. Now, Old Town is starting to flourish, and suddenly we’re saying “no” to legitimate business concepts because their new, innovative ideas don’t cost the same amount of money to get started. I always thought the whole purpose of running a business was to spend the least amount of money to make the most amount of money. These food truck guys may have found a better way to do just that, but the opponents resisted innovation to protect the businesses that took a more traditional approach. So much for free enterprise and calling yourself “pro-business.”

We also heard one citizen compare the supposedly unsightly and pedestrian food trucks to the fine dining options available in Roanoke or Southlake, then say we need to bring in more restaurants like that. We can spend the next 20 years wishing we had a town center like Southlake or as many restaurants as Roanoke. But I’d rather spend that time and energy building a better, unique Keller than trying to replicate what’s going on down the road.

We had the chance to welcome a new business to Keller — a business that would be one-of-a-kind in Northeast Tarrant County and draw people to our community. But last night, we said “no” to new business, “no” to innovation, and “no” to a bright, young developer who chose Keller to implement his idea. I think we made a mistake, and hope we can find a way to fix it.

I just hope he doesn’t take his idea to Roanoke first.