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Cary considers changes to food‑truck permitting, fees and scheduling downtown
Summary
Trustees reviewed current food‑truck rules that allow private‑property trucks with no village permit but require a $50/day permit for two downtown public locations on weekends; board discussed expanding days, offering annual permits, waivers for Cary‑based vendors and addressing sales‑tax registration.
Cary trustees discussed food‑truck permitting and fees at the June 17 Committee of the Whole and asked staff to prepare options including broader downtown hours, annual licensing, fee adjustments and potential waivers for locally registered vendors.
Director Simmons summarized current village practice: food trucks operating on private property generally do not require a village permit but must comply with McHenry County health regulations; the village permits food trucks on designated downtown public sites (two specific locations) by daily permit at $50 per day, with a maximum of two food trucks downtown on a given day. “In the last 3 years we've had 1 food truck each year request approvals,” Simmons said, citing limited demand during streetscape construction.
Trustees suggested several changes. Trustee McAlpine proposed expanding permitted days to seven days a week and exploring annual licenses instead of single‑day permits so operators could pre‑schedule multiple dates. Another trustee proposed reducing the daily fee to encourage operators; others proposed a waiver or reduced rate for food‑truck businesses that are registered in Cary and therefore remit local sales tax.
Trustees also raised sales‑tax questions. One trustee asked whether trucks remit Cary sales tax; staff said sales tax collection follows where a vendor is registered and that only vendors registered in Cary remit local sales tax to the village. Trustees directed staff to clarify how sales tax is handled and whether registration in Cary should be a condition for fee waivers.
Staff indicated potential promotional opportunities tied to the Depot Plaza completion and suggested targeting outreach and communications to increase operator interest. No code changes or fee changes were adopted at the June 17 meeting; trustees asked staff to return with options on fees, annual licensing, scheduling limits and how to handle public‑property locations beyond downtown (for example, parks or pavilion locations currently outside the regulation).
