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Council directs city attorney to draft ordinance extending itinerant merchant licenses to one year
Summary
The committee voted unanimously to direct the city attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Dallas City Code section 7.856 to make itinerant merchant licenses valid for one year, aligning them with other local permits. Staff clarified health licensing requirements for food vendors and recommended housekeeping cleanups to the code.
The Billing Grounds Committee voted unanimously to direct the city attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Dallas City Code section 7.856 so that all itinerant merchant licenses are valid for one year.
Staff explained the current patchwork of permit durations: the itinerant-merchant ordinance dates to 1983 with substantive updates in 2015; food carts currently receive six-month permits that can be renewed, while other itinerant merchants are limited to three months. Staff recommended standardizing the term to one year to align with other city licenses such as solicitation or taxi permits, and the committee moved and seconded a directive to the city attorney to clean up and consolidate the ordinance language.
The committee confirmed public-health checks remain part of the process: food vendors must have the county health food-handling permits, and staff said mobile food-truck operators are verified for county licensing as a condition of the city permit. The ordinance language will return to council after the city attorney prepares the draft.
Ending: Motion carried unanimously; staff will bring a drafted ordinance back to the council for review and adoption.
