The Pacific Board of Aldermen on Aug. 5 debated a draft ordinance to regulate food trucks on private property, approved several substantive amendments and then tabled the ordinance for further refinement and public review.
The ordinance would add a definition of food trucks to the municipal code and create a permitting process. Debate centered on whether the code should ban food trucks within a distance of existing restaurants, how to handle drive‑through service from trucks, and which city official or body should manage enforcement and appeals.
Several business owners and food-truck operators spoke. Adam Eversmeyer, who operates Deck Coffee LLC, said he provides his insurance and licenses and that he sometimes serves from private-property locations by invitation: “I supply the property owner with, like, my copy of my insurance, my liability insurance. I already get to have a license for the city of Pacific.”
Attorney Carr advised the board to avoid using the term “temporary use permit” (which in code refers to right‑of‑way construction activities) and instead create a dedicated “food truck permit.” She also recommended procedural protections for due process — at least 15 days written notice and a hearing before suspending or revoking a permit — and discussed whether appeals should go to the Board of Aldermen or Board of Adjustment.
On a package of changes the board approved at the meeting, the board: struck a redundant 150‑foot restriction in one place (commenters had argued that restriction could prevent invited trucks from serving near businesses), removed a prohibition on drive‑through facilities from the ordinance, renamed the permit from “temporary use permit” to “food truck permit,” and shifted enforcement language to make the code‑enforcement official responsible with appeals to the Board of Aldermen (rather than the Board of Adjustment). The board then voted to table the amended ordinance and directed staff to publish a clean version in the next meeting packet for public review.
What happens next: staff will return a clean, updated draft in the next board packet, including the red‑line and clean copies so the public can see changes; the ordinance will be reconsidered at a later meeting.