Temple University wants to create food truck zone

Philadephia City Council is trying to help Temple University put some controls into the food truck vending industry on its North Philadelphia campus.

The university is asking Council to create a “Temple Vending District,” ensuring that students have an opportunity to make purchases at the burgeoning food truck scene, but not to the point of choking off pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

The game plan, now being discussed in a City Council committee, would allow for a maximum of 50 food truck and cart vendors in the control zone. A 2014 tally by the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections found 38 trucks and 10 food carts on campus.

Veronica Apostolopoulos (at left in photo), who runs the “Creperie” truck, wants clarification on who makes the cut.

“I’m scared they might throw me out,” she said today. Her truck has been on campus for 14 years; she has owned it for two.

And Kristen Mills, of “Cloud Coffee,” says the many food vendors on campus serve a variety of clientele, and she hopes to stay put.