Willard committee tables request for permanent food cart at Grumpy Goat parking lot

Willard’s conditional-use permit review committee on Thursday tabled an application from Danny Olson to operate a food cart called Lunch Box 101 in the Grumpy Goat bike shop parking lot, citing missing property-owner documentation and Bear River Health Department approvals.

The committee said Olson had provided a site plan, a parking sketch and photos of his cart but had not supplied a property-owner application, formal letters or plan review from the Bear River Health Department, or evidence of required food-handler and managerial permits. Committee members also flagged parking, zoning and fire-safety details that must be clarified before the application goes to the planning commission.

Olson told the committee he intends to use Spencer Merrill’s site as a permanent location and said he would “drill some holes on the 4 corners and actually put some of these lag things in” to secure the cart. He described a simple Monday–Friday lunch operation offering a rotating three-item menu and said, “I’m not there to charge you $5 per street taco.” He said his commissary would be Spencer Merrill’s kitchen, that his wife is pursuing the managerial food-safety certification, and that he will obtain the Bear River Health Department approvals before opening.

Committee members said that representation and a sketch are not sufficient. “I would like the property owner to submit the application,” one committee member said, adding that the health department’s mobile food establishment plan-review form asks for commissary verification, 3-compartment sinks and a bathroom within 500 feet. Another member summarized the committee’s immediate requirements: “So it sounds like we need an application filed by Mr. Merrill. Mhmm. And then we need food handler’s permits from the health department.”

The committee identified specific items the applicant must provide or confirm before the planning commission reviews the matter: a property-owner application from Spencer Merrill; written confirmation or plan-review correspondence from the Bear River Health Department showing the commissary and mobile unit meet mobile food-establishment standards (including a verified 3-compartment sink at the commissary and a bathroom within 500 feet); copies of food-handler and managerial certificates; proof the cart’s fire extinguisher has a current inspection tag; a clear plan for water supply and approved backflow prevention; and a parking layout showing compliance with Willard’s dimensional requirements (committee members discussed standard parking dimensions typically 9 by 18 or 9 by 20 feet depending on configuration).

Committee members also discussed zoning complications. The proposed site sits near Willard’s Old Town corridor, and members noted that Old Town zoning differs from general commercial zoning along the highway; that distinction affects whether a permanently sited but mobile cart requires a conditional use permit. The committee asked staff to confirm the site’s zoning designation and to check whether any state-owned right-of-way or other jurisdictional interests affect on-site parking or access; one member noted that a fire hydrant and a portion of the parking area are in state right-of-way.

After discussion, a committee member moved to table the item “until we flush some of this out”; the motion was seconded and the committee voted in favor. The committee instructed staff to contact Spencer Merrill, request that he file the property-owner application, and seek a written letter or plan-review status from the Bear River Health Department. Olson said he expected to have food-handler certificates within about a week and agreed to provide documentation when available.

Next steps: staff will follow up with Merrill and the Bear River Health Department and will return the item to the committee once the requested documentation — property-owner application, health-department plan-review/letter, proof of food-handler and managerial permits, fire-extinguisher certification, and a finalized parking layout — is submitted.

The committee’s action was procedural; no approvals or denials of the conditional use permit were made at the meeting.