HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-18-15 Wiseman FW_ food truck ordinanceFrom:Chris Mehl
To:Agenda
Subject:FW: food truck ordinance
Date:Tuesday, May 19, 2015 9:19:32 AM
Chris MehlBozeman City Commissioncmehl@bozeman.net406.581.4992________________________________________From: Kelly Wiseman [Kelly@bozo.coop]Sent: Monday, May 18, 2015 4:49 PMTo: Carson Taylor; Chris MehlSubject: food truck ordinance
Hello Carson and Chris,
I am writing to you to ask that you please direct city staff to draft some form of ordinance addressingfood trucks.This would not be some daunting task: they could pull copy from a few progressive cities and cut andpaste something reasonable.
You are not hearing about this issue because no restauranteur wants to be that guy, the one who hatesthose cute little trucks. But the issue is real and I’m guessing is about to spiral out of control. MSUannounced today that it is rolling one out, and the Architect’s Wife downtown just hosted the first “FoodTruck Friday” on Babcock a block from about five restaurants.
I think it would be a shame if one of the new small restaurants that are going in (like, say, 5 on Black)didn’t quite make it because of the two trucks parked out front, or just down the block. I’m certain youtwo would agree.
I don’t hate the trucks, by the way, I just think the playing field should be level for those of us whoprovide jobs, ADA restrooms, impact fees, and a tax base. So I would suggest, as an opener, no truckssouth of Lamme or north of Olive, between Wallace and 3rd, until after 9pm. And better garbage control(we’re seeing a lot of litter already).And, for the rest of the city, perhaps we treat it like churches and liquor licenses and limit the distancea truck can be from and licensed food establishment.
Again, I don’t think it would be tough to come up with code language on this as I’ll bet many cities areway ahead of us.But this is only going to get more difficult to solve the longer we wait…
Thanks for your service and your time,
kdw
Kelly Dean WisemanGeneral ManagerCommunity Food Co-op801 W. Main Suite 3BBozeman, MT 59715406-587-1919 ext 66