Locally loved food cart pod Common Fields is seeking to add two new trucks, which sounds delicious, but owner Jacob Oliver says the plan has hit a snag; city fees that may make the expansion so spendy that he can’t move forward. If you’ve been on local social media lately, you likely already know about this, and now we have some updates for you.
But, first, a short recap. On Sept. 7, Oliver posted, “Common Fields, as well as all future food trucks in Corvallis, are under threat. A new [city] fee that was recently passed requires any food truck to pay between $15,000 and $16,000 to start operations in Corvallis.”
The fees being referred to are transportation system development charges, or SDCs for short.
For Oliver, this means Common Fields either ponies up $30,000 for the fees or continues as it has in the past with only four trucks, rather than six. But he’s not sure that’s viable long-term for the business, hence the decision to add more food trucks.
Oliver is asking folks to sign an online petition. His posts have received strong support. He plans to appear in front of the City Council on Tuesday, September 22. He is hoping supporters will appear alongside him.
What he is seeking from the Council is a pause or an outright reversal.
“I am asking the city council to pause or reverse the decision to add the new trip based SDC’s to food trucks while they fix the unfairly miscategorized food truck SDC’s,” said Oliver in an email. “I also realize this fix will take time and there is a much greater issue around fixing all SDCs for small businesses.”
Oliver also said he believes the Council may need to winnow down the list of transportation projects it’s trying to fund, which would also leverage down the SDC fees.
But mostly, he believes any change in the fee structure will require decision-making that takes time and that small business can’t wait, hence, his view that what is needed right now is a pause on the charges.
What the City is Saying
So, first, the City has been eager to point out that even if the Council does not grant a pause, the Economic Development Department is arranging a loan so Common Fields can move forward with the added trucks. The duration of the loan has not yet been decided; it could be for an extended term. The interest rate will be low; only 2.5%.
According to the City’s economic development manager, Christopher Jacobs, the dollars are coming from an $80,000 first-come-first-serve revolving loan fund that had been available to downtown businesses. The loan to Common Fields means the fund would need a refresh before it can loan again.
But about the SDC fees themselves, there seems to be fewer options.
After all, new safer bike lanes and pedestrian bulb-outs and roads in general have to be paid for with something. And, according to the City’s community development director, Paul Bilotta, that something are these transportation system development charges. Every new house or commercial building that gets built is charged based on how many trips it’s likely to generate, and what its proportionate impact will be on transportation infrastructure costs. There’s even an internationally accepted calculator that cities can use to estimate trips for different kinds of uses, and the City of Corvallis uses that.
But these transportation charges don’t just apply to new construction, if a property is repurposed, the new use could mean more trips to the location, and the City will charge for those newly added trips.
The City’s public works director, Jeff Blaine says that’s what is happening with Common Fields. When it first opened in 2021, its trip generation for four food trucks was about equal to the trip generation of the property’s prior user, and fees for that level of impact had already been paid. So, no new transportation fees for Common Fields back in 2021.
But now Common Fields is looking to add two more food trucks, pushing the trip estimation past what it’s been, meaning they would have a greater impact on Corvallis’ transportation infrastructure than what the City says has been paid for.
Bilotta says succinctly that if the businesses don’t pay their share, that would leave residents to pick up the tab. Either way, most Corvallisites want serviceable and increasingly safe streets, as well as infrastructure to accommodate alternative transportation.
Bilotta confirms the SDC amounts for Common Fields’ added trucks would be about $15,000 per truck. He also said fees for restaurants of the same square footage would be about $22,000.
There has been some confusion about who pays what fees, adds Bilotta. He says the trucks don’t pay SDCs, the property hosting the trucks does. Also, property owners can host food trucks for up to 45 days a year without charge. The trucks themselves do pay some fees according to Bilotta, about $1,000 yearly in various County and City charges.
Signs of Bigger Issues
Oliver believes Common Fields isn’t alone in its current situation, that other small businesses are experiencing similar hurdles. As he sees it, Common Fields may need to grow and diversify its offerings so it can remain at least somewhat stable in a presently challenging business environment. He also worries that other businesses encountering the fees may find themselves in similar straits and that startup hopefuls may actually find the SDCs to be insurmountable.
Conversely, the City is at a loss for what else to do, because yes, most everyone loves good infrastructure. But then, these SDCs do come with some problematic consequences. If you’re Starbucks, cutting a $30,000 check for SDCs is no sweat. For a small by the bootstraps local startup, that check could be the difference between being in business or not.
As structured, SDCs disproportionately impact individuals and businesses of lesser means – they are a regressive form of taxation. If the City Council wishes to explore alternatives – think Land Value Capture or Termed Assessments and the like – it will take time. Likewise, Council could revisit its list of infrastructure projects, which would also take time.
But small business has to respond in the moment, time has a different meaning for a locally owned shop or restaurant than it does for a government. This is what is motivating Oliver’s plan to appear in front of the Council next week.
And he could be successful. Last year he campaigned similarly to suspend the City’s noise ordinances so Common Fields could continue offering live music while officials developed an updated set of codes. That pause was granted, and the City ultimately updated its ordinances, which are now similar to what other communities like ours have on the books.
But that was noise and this is money. And we are also in a time of projected City budget deficits. So, what will the City Council do come next Tuesday – we’ll keep you posted.
By Steven J. Schultz
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