Skip to main content

Norton Asks NPS to Have Lottery for Food Vendors on National Mall

October 31, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) released a letter Norton sent Wednesday to Robert Vogel, National Park Service (NPS) Superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, asking him to consider a lottery system similar to the one that the District of Columbia uses for stationary vendors and food trucks on the National Mall. This month, the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) will take over the lottery for stationary vendors on the streets parallel to the Mall, allotting 74 vending locations, from the Metropolitan Police Department. For the first time ever, the lottery now includes food trucks. Norton believes that NPS should use this same model to bring more food options to the Mall, particularly because the Mall has only one concessionaire who provides all of the food on the Mall. Last month, Vogel participated in Norton's National Mall Roundtable, where she suggested he consider a greater variety of food options to visitors, particularly the addition of food trucks. Vogel agreed to consider other food options when the agreement with the current concessionaire ends in 2015.

"Currently, the Mall has only one food concessionaire on the Mall," Norton said in her letter. "Allowing a limited number of regulated food trucks on the Mall or lunch fare brought from local restaurants would add immeasurably to the Mall experience."

Norton's letter follows:

October 29, 2014

Robert Vogel

Superintendent

National Mall & Memorial Parks

National Park Service

900 Ohio Drive SW

Washington, DC 20024

Dear Superintendent Vogel,

I very much appreciate the work that the National Park Service (NPS) is doing to make the National Mall a more beautiful space.

I am following up on our National Mall Roundtable last month, where you were kind enough to participate. We suggested you consider a greater variety of food options for visitors, including a system allowing the rich array of food truck vendors to participate. Currently, the Mall has only one food concessionaire on the Mall. You agreed to consider other food options when the agreement with the current concessionaire ends in 2015. Allowing a limited number of regulated food trucks on the Mall or lunch fare brought from local restaurants would add immeasurably to the Mall experience.

The District of Columbia has always utilized a lottery system for stationary food and merchandise operators stationed on 74 locations on streets running parallel to the Mall. Beginning this month, the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) will take over the lottery from the Metropolitan Police Department, and DCRA has decided to open up the lottery system to mobile food vendors. I ask that you consider a similar lottery system for food vendors, particularly food trucks, to operate on the Mall, providing the diversity in food options that we discussed at the roundtable.

Thank you again for your very helpful participation in our roundtable. I ask that you give full and fair consideration to this request consistent with applicable laws, rules, and regulations. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Eleanor Holmes Norton