AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY S MOBILE FOOD TRUCK REGULATIONS Approve/not approve Ordinance 2017-38 Approval of the amendments (6-0) An amendment is being proposed that would make several changes to the City s mobile food truck regulations. A recent state code change has created the need to update the City s code to reflect the changes to state law. The changes include clarifying and specifying regulations for the different types of mobile food vendors, and the removal of the regulation requiring a 100-foot distance between a mobile food truck and a restaurant. In 2014, Ogden City adopted an ordinance providing regulations for mobile food trucks. Previous to this, the City had adopted regulations for the placement and operation of sidewalk vending carts. The 2014 ordinance was meant to provide regulations on mobile food trucks themselves separate and distinct from the sidewalk vending carts. With the adoption of the initial ordinance in 2014, the Council indicated that the issue was to be reviewed after some time had passed to determine if changes needed to be made to what was adopted. In 2015, the Council reviewed the ordinance with the help of the City s Planning Staff and requested that some areas of the ordinance be reviewed by the Planning Commission. This review took place in 2015 and the Council adopted changes to the mobile food truck ordinance in early 2016. The 2014 mobile food truck ordinance provide some general regulations for the operation and location of mobile food trucks. The 2014 ordinance allowed mobile food trucks as a permitted use in the C-2, C-3, CBD, and CBD-I zones with the exception of Historic 25 th Street and The Junction. The 2014 ordinance provide regulations for where and when a mobile food truck could park within a public right-of-way requiring that any truck must be parked within a legal parking stall and must be parked parallel to the curb to allow transactions from the sidewalk. In addition, the 2014 ordinance outlined standards for access to bathrooms, signage, and furniture. Ogden City Council Meeting: August 22, 2017 1
One of the more significant elements of the 2014 ordinance was the restriction that mobile food trucks could not operate within 200 feet of an existing restaurant. This restriction was debated among the Council and was meant to protect the City s brick and mortar restaurants. This restriction was generally welcomed by some of the restaurant owners but was opposed by the mobile food vendors as many of the areas in Ogden with high concentrations of restaurants are also the areas where there is a lot of pedestrian activity. The mobile food truck vendors felt that this restriction kept them out of the better locations for their food trucks. The distance requirement established in the 2014 ordinance was one of the elements the Council requested to be reviewed in 2015. As the Planning Commission reviewed the ordinance in 2015, a recommendation was made by the Commission that this distance requirement be reduced to 100 feet. In January 2016, the Council adopted an ordinance amending the 2014 mobile food truck ordinance. Among the changes was the reduction in distance a mobile food truck may operation from an existing restaurant. Other changes included in the 2016 update were the removal of the limitation of five (5) food trucks in the downtown area, and the allowance for a mobile food truck to play music. The Council requested that the Planning Commission review and make a recommendation on allowing mobile food trucks at or near public parks. The Commission did not recommend allowing food trucks at or near parks and the Council did not adopt a change to allow this either with the 2016 update. During the 2017 Utah State legislative session, the issue to food trucks was debated and legislation was passed that made several changes to the manner with which cities deal with mobile food trucks. Among the more significant changes was that a city must honor a business license issued by another city if a mobile food truck vendor wishes to do business in a city other than the one that issued the initial business license. A similar provision was adopted with regard to health department inspections of mobile food trucks. Another change included in the legislation was that a city cannot require a special event permit for a food truck event if the event takes place on private property. The last change included in the 2017 legislation was that cities can no longer use distance from a restaurant to prohibit the operation of a mobile food Ogden City Council Meeting: August 22, 2017 2
truck. This change, of course, overrides the City s ordinance with regard to the 100-foot buffer established with the 2016 ordinance update. August 1, 2017 The proposed amendments were reviewed during the Council s August 1, 2017 work session. The Council indicated that a change could be made to the distance restrictions for churches. Council staff has worked with Planning and Legal and the ordinance has been updated to reflect the Council s desires. The current proposal is to make several updates to the City s mobile food truck definitions and regulations ( 15-2-14, 15-13-37). The changes provide clarification on Mobile Food Trailers and Mobile Ice Cream Vendors, and provide clarification on when and where all of the types of mobile food vendors can operate. Among the regulations for when and where mobile food vendors can operate is the removal of the 100-foor buffer as regulated by the state code. Definitions The state code provides a definition for Mobile Food Trucks, but includes in the definition a mobile food trailer. In an effort to differentiate a Mobile Food Trailer from a sidewalk vendor, which are small trailers towed by vehicles, the Administration is proposing a definition for a Mobile Food Trailer. Mobile Food Trailers, as proposed, would not be sidewalk vendors and would be subject to some of the same regulations as Mobile Food Trucks. As proposed, Mobile Food Trailers can operate in the same zones as Mobile Food Trucks but cannot be parked within the public right-of-way. Mobile Food Trailers must be parked on private property in a parking lot. In addition to the new definition for Mobile Food Trailers, the proposed ordinance includes a clarification on a Mobile Ice Cream Vendor. This use is not new but the definition would be added to the zoning ordinance for clarification. This use is presently regulated through business licensing. Distance Requirements The 2014 ordinance regulating Mobile Food Trucks and the 2016 update both included a distance prohibition for Mobile Food Trucks from existing restaurants. The initial distance included in the 2014 ordinance Ogden City Council Meeting: August 22, 2017 3
was 200 feet and the updated 2016 ordinance included a 100-foot distance. With the recent state code change, this specific distance has been removed from the proposed ordinance. While the specific distance from an existing restaurant has been removed, the proposed ordinance does prohibit the operation of a Mobile Food Truck directly in front of an existing restaurant unless the restaurant has given permission for the Mobile Food Truck to operate. It was felt that this will still preserve the intent of the initial restriction while allowing the City s code to be in compliance with state law. In addition to this, Mobile Food Trucks are currently prohibited on Historic 25 th Street and at The Junction based on the City s zoning ordinance. Because this is location based and not distance based, it is felt that this existing regulation is consistent with the new state law. Distance Requirement from Churches The Council discussed the proposed ordinance amendments at the work session on August 1, 2017. During the review, the topic of the distance restrictions from churches was discussed. The Council indicated that the restriction could be removed from the ordinance. Based on the Council s discussion, Council staff met with Planning and Legal to work on an alternative proposal with regard to the distance restriction from churches. The proposed amendment is as follows and has been included in the ordinance for the Council s consideration: When parked in the public right of way, a mobile food truck: 8. May not, except with the permission of the property owner, operate immediately adjacent to a lot or parcel whose primary use is for a church, synagogue or similar permanent building used for regular religious worship. The language proposed is consistent with other wording in the City s zoning ordinance with regard to places of worship. A restriction at some level is important to the Planning Division as it is still felt that food trucks and churches/places of worship may not be compatible uses. The proposed language is somewhat of a compromise to maintain at least a minimal level of restriction while eliminating what some may see as an unnecessary distance restriction. Ogden City Council Meeting: August 22, 2017 4
The Planning Commission reviewed the amendments at its June 7, 2017 meeting and forwarded a recommendation of approval to the Council with a vote of 6-0. The Commission made its recommendation with the findings that the amendments are consistent with state law, the intent of the established land use regulations, and that the revision provides clarity on the different modes of food sales in the public right-of-way. There were no comments given at the June 7, 2017 meeting. 1. Transmittal 2. Ordinance 2017-38 3. Planning Commission Report Council Staff Contact: Glenn Symes, AICP (801) 629-8164 Ogden City Council Meeting: August 22, 2017 5