Elkader food truck task force finalizes proposal to submit to city council
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
It took several months, numerous attempts, countless discussions and a dedicated group of community members, but the Elkader’s food truck task force has finalized the “Transient Food Vendor Ordinance” (TFVO). It will be submitted to the city council at the Dec. 27 meeting for the first of its required three readings and be open to the public for comment and for the council to address any lingering concerns.
Throughout the process—which was initiated when controversy over food trucks in the community led to the creation of a task force in order to create a more equitable system—the task force has listened to all sides of the debate.
The task force itself was comprised of several members from the community representing all sections, and while some of those members did not last the entire process, others, like Tim Finley, Deborah Schmidt and Tony Hauber, were at every meeting. They went back and forth on topics ranging from registration cost, use of public parking, sponsorships, insurance and rules of operation.
About the formation of the task force and the goal of producing an ordinance, Hauber said, “I wanted to get people together that represented both sides of this issue and get to the bottom of this disagreement. When we bring everyone to the table, there is always some middle ground we can get down to and build from. That is what we’ve done with this task force. We started with getting everyone’s goals for the ordinance—that was the middle ground. Then we built up from there.”
One of the major sticking points was parking, especially the use of public parking spaces. It was mentioned several times at the task force meetings and by council member Daryl Koehn that parking is and has been an issue for the city, so allowing food trucks to park on Main Street creates a certain level of concern.
Feedback from the Elkader Merchants Group, gathered by Schmidt, alluded to this concern as well, as it is believed a food truck will easily take up two to three spaces. People also felt Bridge and Main streets should be excluded unless there is a street closure.
The second issue with the parking revolved around how long the food truck could park in a spot, with many task force members settling on 48 hours as long as the food truck is registered. Additional time would require approval from the city administrator.
The issue of responsibility was also constantly discussed, with Finley stating the sponsoring business should be responsible for providing bathrooms and the removal of garbage and the food truck should be confined to the two spots directly in front of the sponsor’s building.
As it is written in the TFVO proposal, any registered transient food vendor may set up in the parking area of a public street if they are sponsored by a business that operates in a location that is adjacent to the setup location and have paid the associated fee, or they are parked in a transient food vendor district and have paid the associated fee.
Any registered transient food vendor may occupy at max two diagonal parking spots or one parallel parking spot.
Any transient food vendor utilizing public parking space is allowed to maintain their parked location for up to 48 hours as long as they have registered with the city to operate during that period, the public street is open during that period and the city is not undergoing a snow emergency.
A second over-arching issue has always been on the fee and what to charge food trucks that want to come into the city. On this question, the task force actually came in lower than pre-task force suggestions, which ranged well above $50 as a starting place.
Instead, the TFVO proposal settled on an application fee to the city of $20 per registration and an additional $10 per day for every day over 48 hours. Additionally, any transient food vender who operates in public parking outside the transient food vendor district must pay a fee to the city of $10 per registration and an additional $5 per day over 48 hours. Any transient food vendor who operates on private property with consent of the property owner will not be assessed any fees from the city, but they are still required to register with the city.
This registration requirement is meant to address the health and safety concerns that also prompted the debate over food trucks coming and going with no record of being in Elkader in the event of a food borne illness.
As for what constitutes the food truck district versus a sponsor, a sponsor, according to the proposal, is “any business operating in a business district with a store front expressing intent to host a transient food vendor.” The food truck district compromises “the area including the entirety of the South Main Street right of way between the intersections of Mechanic Street and Boardman Street.”
While the full proposal will be available for the public at the council meeting, Hauber, who spearheaded the task force, said “we considered as much perspective as we could get our hands on and I believe that it is a fair proposal. This proposal describes how a food truck (or more broadly a transient food vendor) can operate in this town, and if it goes through the process of three public readings and passing, then we will no longer have to have this discussion every time food trucks come to town.”
“That doesn’t mean people will stop complaining. That is their right,” he added. “But it does mean that we as a city can say unequivocally whether it’s OK for that food truck to operate in that way.”
