Council considers amendments to food truck ordinance

When a number of food truck operators expressed concerns about recent amendments to the city’s Code of Ordinances, city leadership listened and decided to revisit the issue.

“Over the last few months, we worked to engage with Mobile Food Unit owners and operators,” City Manager Brynn Myers said. “Based on the feedback from those workshops, we have some additional amendments.”

In December, the City Council approved amendments to Chapter 14 of the Code of Ordinances pertaining to food establishments. Those amendments were intended to make the ordinance compliant with state regulations.

“At that time, we missed an important step to engage with the stakeholder community,” Myers said.  “There are ways we can be in compliance with state law but still allow flexibility to our small business owners.”

The second round of proposed amendments would eliminate the requirement for food truck operators to provide a list of locations where they will park or operate and allow food to be prepared on the Mobile Food Unit if the operator can meet certain health and safety standards.

“Our goal here is to make it more streamlined for Mobile Food Units to get a permit from the City of Temple,” Myers said.

The amendment would also allow private property owners to host food trucks for private, temporary events regardless of the property’s zoning district. Other changes included the requirements related to the disposal of wastewater, such as water used for washing hands.

The Council unanimously approved the first reading of the amendments at its June 17 meeting. It will be subject to a second reading on July 1 for final approval.

The proposed ordinance can be found online at https://bit.ly/3gMWWoa.