Food truck committee cruises on

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Nicky Boyette – The committee appointed by mayor Butch Berry to hash out details for fitting mobile food truck and trailer vendors into Eureka Springs City Code continued discussion last Thursday afternoon. The committee consists of alderman Bob Thomas, city clerk/treasurer Ann Armstrong and chair Steve Beacham of Planning. They emphasized their role was to develop a list of suggestions for city council to consider, and council will make the final decisions.

In their previous meeting, the committee concluded there was no city-owned property suitable for setting up food trucks, so the only locations in town would be private property. They decided a strategy for limiting the number of mobile food truck and trailer vendors was to have private property owners who want to host a vendor apply for a permit, and the permits would be issued by a lottery drawing. Property owners could then negotiate with a vendor.

The committee clarified the topic they were discussing did not include push-cart vendors. They also fine-tuned the previous suggested number of permits in this way:

  • One permit for a food court (sites for two-to-four food trucks) at a location on US 62
  • Two other permits on US 62 for a single food truck
  • One permit for Main Street for a single food truck and one permit for a commercial space on White Street for a single food truck.

Beacham mentioned the lottery for choosing designated sites would be held in December, and permits would be valid beginning January 1. Private property owners would negotiate with properly licensed vendors, and a vendor could apply to operate at more than one site.

Thomas commented even if 50 property owners applied for a permit, only five permits would be issued.

Beacham suggested criteria for being eligible to enter the lottery would be a site plan, safe ingress and egress, adequate parking, legal signage, lighting for after dark, and trash accommodations.

Generator noise might also be a concern. Beacham stated they should get input from building inspector Bobby Ray for establishing the criteria checklist, and Thomas commented Ray would also be called upon to inspect sites to ensure compliance with eligibility criteria.

Armstrong agreed to find existing checklists that might be useful for their purposes, and Beacham said he would adapt them. The committee uncovered other considerations, such as if a lottery winner did not use the permit by a certain date, so Thomas suggested they could develop a waiting list during the lottery drawing.

The committee agreed there would be more details to mull over at the next meeting, Thursday, May 12, at 2 p.m. at city hall.