Explanation
Due to the existing public safety threat in the Short North neighborhood, it has become necessary to limit the hours of operations for mobile food vending, in order to decrease motor vehicle and pedestrian congestion in the neighborhood.
Title
To ordain Executive Order 2023-01 of the Mayor, ordering and directing the Director of the Department of Public Service and the Director of the Department of Public Safety, within their respective jurisdiction under the Columbus City Codes, to prohibit mobile food vending operations in the Short North after 11:59 pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings; and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, Chapter 573 of the Columbus City Codes, as recently amended by Ordinance No. 1730-2023, establishes regulations and licensing requirements for mobile food vending operations within the City; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 573 establishes and defines Congestions Zones as a geographic area that has a combination of public right of way parking limitations, meter restrictions, vehicular traffic patterns, pedestrian density, and mobility issues, such that unrestricted access for mobile food vending constitutes a threat to public health and safety and authorizes the Director of Public Safety to create, designate, alter, or eliminate Congestion Zones; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Chapter 573, areas in the Short North neighborhood, as defined by the Victorian Village Commission and the Italian Village Commission, have been designated as a Congestion Zone; and
WHEREAS, it has been observed that the presence of mobile food vending operations within the Short North has increased motor vehicle and pedestrian congestion and caused large gatherings of people, most especially in the hours after 11:59 pm on weekends, increasing the potential threat to public health and safety; and
WHEREAS, the Short North neighborhood has experienced actual incidents of violence including a fatal shooting on May 14, 2023 and two separate shooting ...
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