Council approves mobile food unit at 130 West Woodard with parking plan and code conditions

The Denison City Council voted Tuesday to allow one mobile food unit at 130 West Woodard Street, subject to conditions intended to manage parking, pedestrian safety and compliance with existing fire and building codes.

Planning staff explained the site, adjacent to Austin Avenue and in the Central Area Zoning District and two historic overlay districts, includes a large private parking lot behind Driggs Liquor. Staff told council the Central Area rules include a specific requirement in section 28.39.2.B.1 that a parking lot containing a mobile food unit must contain a minimum of 15 parking spaces; staff said the subject lot does not appear to meet that minimum but that adjacent on-street and nearby public lots provide additional capacity. Because the preliminary site plan submitted with the application did not show designated parking spaces or drive aisles, staff recommended approval conditioned on a parking plan that clearly shows spaces and drive-aisles and on adherence to Chapter 15, Article 3 requirements for mobile food units as well as all applicable building and fire codes.

Jonathan Earnhardt, the applicant and owner of the site at 110 South Houston Avenue, told council his plans include outdoor seating that they have submitted for historic-district review and that the food-truck placement will be roughly 12 feet from the property line to meet fire-marshal spacing. Earnhardt said his intention is to host occasional events such as “food truck Friday” to increase foot traffic downtown and that he will seek to power the unit from a nearby pole rather than from the building.

Council members discussed the equity of applying the 15-space standard in the Central Area when private lots exist, and staff clarified it sought a parking plan mainly to ensure safe access and egress, not to require expansion to 15 spaces in a private lot. Councilman Massey moved to approve the CUP with the conditions described: a parking plan depicting spaces and drive aisles and compliance with Chapter 15, Article 3 as well as building and fire codes. Councilman Thomas seconded; the motion carried on a voice vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally.

Earnhardt said the design will include a public patio area and the applicant confirmed plans to coordinate liquor-license limits and food-truck vendors ahead of operation. The council instructed staff to verify permitting and fire-code spacing during permit review.