City of Fargo asks residents their opinions on food pushcarts in downtown

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Food pushcarts have operated in Downtown Fargo for over a number of years. Providing lunchtime, late-night, and seasonal food options for both residents and visitors. And now, the city wants to know what people think about food pushcarts.

“We’ve received various complaints, concerns, comments. Most of the time, it’s complaints that are calling the city of Fargo. But we’re not sure if those complaints are with the majority or are a select few,” said Nicole Crutchfield, City of Fargo Planning Director.

So far, there have been over eight hundred recorded responses. Many of the questions ask if people have been downtown, what they like about the options, and also what they would like to see changed in the future.

“Sometimes we hear complaints from business owners that own brick and mortar businesses on Broadway, because the public sidewalk is that it’s public space…We also get concerns and complaints about excess trash or grease or leave behind damages,” said Crutchfield.

Currently, the program requires the vendors to pay a $50 annual permit fee to operate on a publicly owned sidewalk downtown. But the fee does not include any cleaning fees.

“Pushcarts are utilizing BID services, but there’s not the structure to pay into BID. In my discussions with those guys, they understand that,” said Rocky Schneider, Executive Director of Downtown Community Partnership.

The Downtown Business Improvement District, or BID, has been operating since 2012. Providing cleaning and maintenance services to businesses in the downtown district from 1st Ave South up to Sanford Hospital. While there may have been concerns, Schneider said this survey is meant to get people’s thoughts on the program.

“It’s really what any good service should do is go out and seek the people using it and say do you like it? Is it worth the cost? Do we need to make changes? So it’s not really complaint driven, it’s trying to provide the best service possible,” said Schneider.

The survey will remain open until February 22nd.