Responding to widespread criticism of a bill that would drastically increase regulation of stoop line stands, the City Council’s Transportation Committee held a hearing yesterday to discuss a new bill that would institute a task force to examine the effects on small business of any such regulation.

Stoop line stands are extensions of stores onto the sidewalk, most commonly seen in the form of fruit-and-flower stands outside greengrocers.

The City Council will vote on the bill, introduced by Council Member Leroy Comrie and co-sponsored by Council Member John Liu, on October 27, the same day it will decide whether to override Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of a bill, introduced by Mr. Liu, that would require the Department of Transportation to investigate each of the city’s 2,126 stands before renewing their licenses.

The first stoop line stand bill was introduced and passed on the same day, an unusually short amount of time.

Mr. Liu said the new bill was introduced “because leading up to our override of the mayor’s veto, the DOT continued to put scare tactics out there, saying that maybe 50% of these stoop line stands would be out of business. We just don’t agree with that.”

The task force would consist of seven members, four appointed by the council, three by the mayor.

Because the City Council would oversee the drafting of the new regulations on the stands, Mr. Liu said, should both bills pass, the task force would have real influence.

“The task force is a very good idea. I think it should be done before a bill passes, not after, “a spokesman for the Neighborhood Retail Alliance, Richard Lipsky, said. Mr. Lipsky is an outspoken critic of increased stoop line stand regulation.

“How much could Intro 731 protect small businesses from 699? The answer is nothing,” the president of the Small Business Congress, Sung Soo Kim, testified. “Throw both bills out, start the task force, and start again.”