Kent City Council voted Wednesday night to pass an update to the regulations on food trucks, hoping to expand opportunities for more of the businesses in the city.
The new ordinance, Draft No. 2020-005, makes several changes but primarily focuses on altering the constraints placed on where mobile food units can open.
Previously it has been a challenge for food trucks to operate outside of specific areas marked by the city for their use. This ordinance looks to expand their ability to operate in the public right of way.
The current regulations contain a non-compete clause, which states that no food truck may operate within 50 feet of the entrance to an existing establishment that serves food.
With the passage of the ordinance, the clause will be waived when an existing business hosts a mobile food unit.
The property owner and mobile food unit would need to jointly apply for a limited use permit, which would allow the food truck to operate five days a week, no more than eight hours a day.
Jack Amrhein, Ward 2 council member and chair of the Health and Safety Committee, used the example of 101 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, a bar and liquor store located at 115 N. Willow St.
“There were some situations such as [101 Bottles] that is by Penn Station and Lucci’s,” Amrhein said. “Now they can get permission and have a food truck.”
The non-compete clause can also now be waived for special city-approved events, such as Kent Oktoberfest and the farmer’s market.
Unlike the limited use permits for individual establishments, food trucks at special events would not be limited to eight hours of operation a day.
Kent residents and businesses will also now be able to make one-time use of food trucks for private parties and catered events held on private property without a permit.
Law Director Hope Jones said at the Jan. 5 council committee meeting that this was to avoid impacting individual events unnecessarily.
“As we get our feet wet on this, we don’t want to all of a sudden mess somebody’s graduation party up,” Jones said.
Jones said the Kent fire department, health department, law department and city manager had all been involved in the process of constructing Kent’s mobile food unit regulations.
She said they had looked through similar regulations throughout Ohio and constructed what they thought to be the best system.
“When I read through this [ordinance], I said, ‘Gosh, I would’ve assumed we were doing all of this already.’ But I guess we weren’t,” Council Member Roger Sidoti said.
Owen MacMillan is a reporter with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University, producing local news coverage in partnership with The Portager.