Blowing Rock council asks staff and chamber to gather data on food-truck policy before changing ordinance

The Blowing Rock Town Council opened a broad discussion on Aug. 12 about whether the town's land-use code should be revised to allow food trucks, and directed staff to collect data and coordinate with the chamber of commerce and planning board before drafting any ordinance changes.

Kevin Rothrock, zoning administrator, reviewed current rules: food trucks are treated as itinerant merchants in the town's land-use code and are generally not permitted except as part of special events or specific charity/special-event approvals. Rothrock said approving food trucks outside those categories would require crafting separate rules for different contexts: special events, private-event exemptions, and ongoing commercial use.

Councilmembers raised competing concerns. Councilmember Doug Matheson said food trucks could address peak-season wait times that affect families and visitors. Councilmember David Arwood said he had not found evidence of systemic restaurant shortfalls and warned that food trucks could create unfair competition for brick-and-mortar restaurants.

Several council members asked for more empirical information before altering policy. Council asked staff to gather data including: restaurant opening patterns and closures (daily and weekly), typical weekend wait times and turnover, occupancy levels for lodging during peak season, and comparative approaches used by similar resort towns. The town will coordinate with the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce and planning staff to assemble data and return recommendations to council and (if warranted) a draft ordinance to send to the planning board.

Rothrock noted examples provided in the packet (City of Sanford, Banner Elk, Butner and Mount Pleasant) and said a planning-board review would be needed if council decided to pursue ordinance text. The council did not take a vote on policy; members agreed that data collection and a planning-board study should precede any code changes.

Key points from the discussion included: the town's current classification of food trucks as itinerant merchants and the town code's limitation of itinerant merchants in most districts; potential categories for permitting (special events, private-event exemptions, or ongoing approvals); a request for scientific data on restaurant operations and wait times; and a suggestion to examine peer municipalities for comparable rules.

Next steps: Staff will coordinate with the chamber and planning staff to gather data and comparable municipal ordinances and will report back to council with findings and a recommendation on whether to direct the planning board to prepare ordinance language.