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Board reviews draft food‑truck ordinance; removes alcohol, mounted‑generator requirements
Summary
Trustees reviewed a draft mobile food vendor ordinance based on other municipalities’ rules, agreed to remove provisions allowing alcohol and a requirement that generators be permanently mounted, and asked staff to return a revised draft for adoption.
The Village of Waukesha village board on May 20 reviewed a staff-drafted ordinance to permit and regulate mobile food vendors, drawing on language from nearby municipalities.
Clerk and staff presented a one-and-a-half-page draft modeled on the City of Waukesha, the Village of Sussex and Muskegon examples. The proposal would require annual vendor permits (prorated after Aug. 1), proof of county health inspections, and limited signage attached to the mobile unit. It would bar vending on roadways unless the village granted a special event exemption, prohibit vending within 100 feet of an existing food-service business without permission and limit vehicle length to 25 feet for towed trailers.
During discussion trustees and staff agreed to several changes: remove language that would have permitted vendors to sell alcoholic beverages under the mobile vendor permit, and allow portable generators rather than requiring permanently mounted generators (the clerk will revise the power wording accordingly). The board discussed personnel and public-safety checks (county health inspection required) and whether to have the clerk issue permits administratively or require board approval; staff recommended clerical issuance unless denial was needed. Trustees asked for a final draft to be reviewed at the next meeting.
The village will also review whether special events can include street closures and whether particular neighborhoods or property owners should be able to grant hosting permission. Staff said they would add a size limit for A-frame signs and confirm fire-department inspection requirements for units that perform more than a specified number of events per year.
The board did not vote to adopt the ordinance at the May 20 meeting; trustees asked staff to incorporate the changes and return a final draft at the subsequent meeting for action.
