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Logansport staff propose new mobile-vendor rules; council advances draft for further review
Summary
City planning staff introduced a draft mobile-vendor ordinance that would expand rules for mobile food and service vendors, set an annual $50 permit fee, require vendors to be mobile, and add public-safety and trash controls.
City planning staff presented a proposed mobile-vendor ordinance intended to broaden existing rules for mobile food vendors to cover other types of mobile services. The draft would require application and annual permitting, impose a $50 yearly fee, require vendors to be mobile (move daily), prohibit operation within 300 feet of a similar retail establishment on the same block without the owner’s written permission, and bar vendors from operating within 500 feet of special events unless authorized by the event organizer.
The proposal also contains operational provisions: no blockage of right-of-way, trash receptacles provided by vendors, water/waste prohibitions requiring proper storage/disposal, customer seating subject to administrative approval, and requirements that all power be self-contained and taped to avoid trip hazards. The draft includes fire-department requirements for any cooking with open flame (inspection, barriers, extinguisher requirement) and requires liability insurance prior to permit issuance.
Staff said enforcement would be primarily through zoning permits and the city would notify existing vendors of any ordinance changes. A council member asked how enforcement would work; staff said the zoning-permit process and permit revocation/enforcement under city code would apply. Staff noted a pending state-level permitting change targeted for 2027 that could affect local rules; their plan is to advance this city ordinance before those state changes take effect.
Committee members asked practical questions about frequency-of-movement rules (vendors must move every day, but may return to a prior location), permitted hours (draft lists 6 a.m.–11 p.m. Sun–Thu and 6 a.m.–midnight Fri–Sat), signage limits, and noise and lighting controls. The draft would limit signage to one 6-square-foot sandwich sign and prohibit external electronic sound-amplifying devices.
After discussion, the committee agreed to move the draft ordinance forward for additional review and inclusion in the planning department’s developer guidebook and land-use matrix. Staff said they would notify vendors on the health-department permit list and proceed with the review process.
No final ordinance was adopted at this meeting; staff said enforcement details and interactions with pending state changes would be addressed in the next steps.
