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Council keeps 200-foot downtown buffer for food trucks but exempts occasional vendors from city business license
Summary
After debate and public comment, the Washington City Council left a 200-foot buffer protecting brick-and-mortar downtown businesses and approved an ordinance amendment exempting mobile food vendors that operate fewer than 10 times per year from a city business license, while maintaining health and fire inspections and permit rules.
The Washington City Council on Sept. 22 decided not to reduce the downtown buffer that restricts mobile food vendors within 200 feet of certain downtown businesses and approved an ordinance amendment to exempt mobile vendors who operate fewer than 10 times annually from obtaining a city business license.
City staff presented maps showing alternate buffer distances (100 feet and 50 feet) and said the 200-foot buffer, adopted in 2023, was intended to protect brick-and-mortar businesses from competition that could locate immediately adjacent to storefronts. Staff said keeping the buffer at 200 feet is administratively simpler and easier for police to enforce than trying to define "restaurant" in code.
Council discussion included concern about…
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