Local “food truck” owners in the City of St. Cloud were worried, and they had every right to feel that way.
It came out of nowhere it seemed, after a local restaurant owner, Frank Woodsby of “The Cup Cafe”, went before the St. Cloud City Council at the 1/14/21 City Council Meeting and asked for a vote to get the trucks out of town.
Two weeks later, the City announced “Emergency Ordinance 2021-08”, which is an amendment to Table III-7 of the Land Development Code to list “Food Trucks” as a “Conditional Use” in the Highway Business District.
Nothing more was known about the “Emergency Ordinance”, and that caused a lot of worry amongst the local food truck owners, as the City’s history with food trucks has been less than friendly.
So, at the 1/28/21 City Council Meeting, the City Council voted 5-0 in favor of the ordinance, despite pleas from many of the local food truck owners asking to be allowed to operate freely, and the Council Members themselves admitting they did not know what the “conditions” would be for this ordinance.
Those “conditions” were revealed today.
The City made available the language of the ordinance to several citizens that made information requests. Here is what was revealed:
1. The minimum lot size to locate an MFDV (food truck) shall be one (1) acre or greater.
2. Must not be within 500ft. an established conventionally constructed permanent building that is used for a food establishment.
3. Outdoor umbrellas, tables, and seating shall be prohibited.
4. May not operate between the hours of 10PM and 6AM
5. Conditional Use permit shall expire after 12 months and shall not be renewed for a minimum period of 24 months.
6. Overnight parking or parking when MFDV is not in active operation shall be prohibited.
7. A trash container must be available on the MFDV (food truck).
8. Self-contained onboard lighting may be used to continuously illuminate the MFDV canopy and provide task lighting for night operation, provided it is in conformity with the city’s lighting regulations.
9. All required state and local licenses must be conspicuously displayed on the MFDV.
10. The vendor shall keep the sidewalks, parking areas and other spaces adjacent to MFDV sites or locations clean and free of paper products (disposable plates, napkins), food waste, andrefuse of any kind generated from the MFDV operation.
11. MFDV shall not block the ingress or egress to the property or obstruct onsite traffic flow.
12. No alcoholic beverages may be sold from MFDV for onsite consumption.
On the surface, most of the conditions seem quite reasonable, except two.
The first one being the minimum size of a 1 acre lot. We are talking about Highway 192 (aka 13th Street in St. Cloud), and the second being the expiration and renewal of the permit.
The cost of the permit will be $900, and that’s if the food truck owner can find an acre to park on.
And then when the permit expires, the food truck owner will not be able to renew their permit for two years.
These two conditions will make it near impossible for the food truck operators to remain on 192.
Those that do find that acre and get their permit will get one year to operate on that acre, and then they will have to find somewhere else to go for the next 2 years as they will not be allowed to be on 192 in St. Cloud.
Additionally, the 5 food trucks that operate in St. Cloud are City residents, and are all either Latino, female, or minority owned businesses that this ordinance is being imposed upon.
They have a very tough battle ahead in a very short amount of time.
This ordinance will be voted on this Thursday, 2/11/21 at the next Saint Cloud City Council Meeting.
4 Comments
This is a blatant attempt by small minded business people to block options. I frequent St. Cloud businesses two to three times a week and will not be stopping by the coffee shop any longer. I may need to look for other options for dining. Narrow minded
I live in Los Angeles now, but a former Orlando resident of 9 years, and a friend of one of the editors here. I was worried your post title was meant to clickbait into an unsubstantiated argument, but you are absolutely right that the 1-acre rule is a serious limiter. LA is legendary for its food truck scene, and most of the guidelines stated in this policy follow the behavior out here. The 12-month permit, with a 24-month block on renewal, is confusing: it seems like it’s either giving them a year to get a “permanent” permit, or otherwise be banned for two years; or they’re forcing a rotation of food trucks between operators?
Also, looking up demographics, it’s gone from a huge shift in being 90% White 20 years ago, to at least 1/3rd Hispanic, if not more. The leadership there may not have yet caught up with this demographic shift, given how the older generations tend to be the ones more active & established in civic politics.
LOL Mike, do you think I would ever publish Clickbait??
Unfortunately, Food Trucks are NOT permitted at all in the City of St. Cloud, so the one year on, 2 years off condition was a blatant move by the City to either, like you stated, rotate the trucks or get them out of town.
There are only 5 to 6 Food Trucks that operate in the City, all residents so I fear it was the latter.
Fortunately, this article, my social media activity, many residents speaking out, and the local television media getting involved shamed the Council into shelving the 3 most egregious conditions