Council introduces food-truck ordinance; first reading approved

The Town of Sellersburg Town Council on Jan. 27 introduced and approved first reading of an ordinance to regulate mobile food vendors, replacing the town's existing ice cream truck rules with a single code regulating food trucks and ice cream trucks.

Staff member Charlie presented the ordinance draft, saying Sellersburg was among communities that historically did not permit food trucks and that the new code will require each food truck to hold a Clark County Health Department food establishment permit and a town mobile food truck license. Key provisions presented include that a food truck cannot remain in one location for more than 12 hours in a day, may not have permanent utilities or block vehicle or pedestrian traffic, must vend toward the sidewalk, and must stay at least 50 feet from certain facades.

Charlie said permitting will be handled through Town Hall and licenses will be valid for the calendar year. The ordinance includes an enforcement process handled by code enforcement or the town manager or their designee; penalties presented in the draft are a warning for a first operating-without-license notice, $150 for a first offense, $300 for a second offense, $450 for a third offense and revocation of the mobile food truck license for one calendar year. The council voted to introduce the ordinance and approved the first reading, with the second reading to be scheduled at a subsequent meeting.

The draft retains a separate allowance for ice cream trucks to use their speakers for music but otherwise places both mobile food vendors and ice cream trucks under the same licensing structure. The ordinance will be published for 30 days as required before enforcement for existing operators, and staff said outreach and notice will be provided to known vendors.