Council discusses food truck rules

During the Hill City Common Council meeting Feb. 13, the council conducted its first reading of “An Ordinance to Establish Regulations for Mobile Food & Beverage Vending” as presented by the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&ZC). 

In her report, development services coordinator Dani Schade discussed the history of food trucks and how they developed from chuck wagons, to ice cream trucks, to roach coaches, to modern day food trucks. 

The report says, “As of 2018, food trucks were operating in over 300 cities in the United States and by that time had become a nearly $3 billion industry. In 2021, there were 32,456 food trucks operating in the US and employing some 38,000 people.” 

Schade also cited a study done to determine whether the increase in food trucks corresponded with a decline in traditional restaurant establishments. 

“What researchers found was that not only was there no associated decline in the number of traditional restaurants, but an increase in the number of food trucks was strongly correlated with restaurant growth. Researchers also found evidence that the number of food trucks in one year had no statistically significant negative relationship to the number of restaurants in the next,” said Schade’s report. 

Thus, it was suggested that it is possible for both entities to coexist. 

As a result, the P&ZC developed a food truck ordinance over six public meetings. This was presented by city administrator Brett McMacken since Schade was unable to attend the council meeting. 

McMacken explained that P&ZC is proposing two designated locations to be utilized for food trucks. There would be two spaces in the Spirit of the Hills Park cul-de-sac and two spaces in the parking spaces alongside Tracy Park. This would give the potential for four food trucks to operate in Hill City at any given time between May 1 and October 1. 

Per the ordinance, food trucks would be sold an annual permit. If set up in these spaces, food trucks would be required to actively sell their food and beverages. No other merchandise could be sold out of a food truck. 

The permitted hours in these four locations would be from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on a first come first serve basis. After hours, the spot must be vacated. 

“We’re trying to explore the food truck business, see if there’s a market for it, open up a couple of spots and see how it does,” said McMacken. 

McMacken also explained that there are people who prefer to grab something quick so they can shop more. Employees may also appreciate the opportunity to get away from work on a lunch break to get something quick to eat.

During public comment it was asked if the spaces would be designated in any way. McMacken responded saying they would have to put up some sort of signage and do some outreach to existing food truck vendors so the rules for utilizing the spaces would be clear. 

The next question referred to how many permits would be sold. According to McMacken, P&ZC discussed limiting the number of permits, but did not continue the discussion because they were unsure how many people would be actively interested. 

Additionally, this ordinance would not affect food trucks coming for special events like the Star Spangled Saturday since these fall under the section of code for city authorized special events. However, there are specific criteria for what qualifies as an authorized event. 

With the concern that some food trucks might not come if they were not guaranteed a spot, alderman Jason Gillaspie asked if there would be a reservation system. 

McMacken said there was a general interest in this idea, but it would require someone to manage the schedule. Ideally, this could fall under the role of the community coordinator, but this position is currently vacant. McMacken agreed there was an opportunity there but thought it might be a potential for phase two instead. 

Gillaspie also asked who would monitor that the food trucks are not violating the permit agreement. This, McMacken said, is covered under the nuisance violations section of the city code so the process does not need to be reinvented. 

Alderman Dale Householder inquired why an A-frame sandwich board would not be allowed per the ordinance. During their discussion, the council decided that a sandwich board with a menu within a specific size could be located by the truck as long as it did not obstruct driving. 

Householder then motioned to approve the ordinance with the discussed changes. The council unanimously approved. 

Next, the council discussed the first reading of the P&ZC proposed amendment to the Licensing & Regulation of Transient Merchants ordinance. This amendment would change the last sentence of the old code which is, “Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit the city from entering into a contract for the sale of ice cream and sundries for immediate consumption no the terms and conditions agreed to by the city council.” 

Instead, they would like to combine this with the sentence above. The amendment would read, “This section does not apply to the sale or delivery of farm or garden products by the growers of their family, nor does it apply to the drayage or the delivery of goods sold in the regular course of an established business or to city permitted food trucks.” 

The council unanimously approved. 

The bridge inspection resolution for consultant selection for 2023 was also unanimously approved by the council.

The next meeting of the Hill City Common Council is Monday, Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. at city hall.