Planners recommend approval of food truck ordinance | News, Sports, Jobs - Times Observer

Oct 17, 2024

Times Observer photo by Josh CottonRandy Rossey, City of Warren codes and planning director, discusses mobile food unit placement options on Pennsylvania Avenue, and Second Avenue during Wednesday’s Planning Commission meeting. The planners recommended approval of a food truck ordinance that will be before the City Council on Monday.

Regulations to oversee the operations of food trucks in the City of Warren are set to go before the City Council on Monday.

The city’s Planning Commission recommended approval of a draft ordinance for mobile food units during a Wednesday morning meeting.

The city had assembled a committee to work on the issue and a draft was presented at the September planners meeting. That committee met again last week in response to the comments from that meeting.

Randy Rossey, city codes and planning director, said the one change made addressed mobile food unit placement in areas with metered time restrictions. The change, he said, would remove those time limits as long as the meters remained in a “paid” status.

The other major issue centered around potential conflicts between mobile food units and brick-and-mortar establishments.

The draft ordinance restricted mobile food unit location in front of a brick-and-mortar restaurant without that restaurant’s permission.

Commission chair Elizabeth Raible said the committee “wanted to provide something” that would provide some protection for traditional establishments while making “sure mobile food vendors had the ability to be downtown in certain areas.”

She said they aimed to “find a good balance” as well as “not completely keeping mobile food units from being downtown.”

Raible acknowledged that due to parking designs and the prevalence of traditional restaurants, there is little space along Pennsylvania Avenue in the area of Second Avenue for a unit to set up.

“This stretch is very limited,” she said.

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