Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Regulation Food Trucks topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Enid staff propose aligning local food-truck rules with state Food Truck Freedom Act; recommend lower annual fee
Summary
City legal staff outlined draft changes to the food-service ordinance to align with the state—s Food Truck Freedom Act and related fire-safety bill. Proposed updates mirror state definitions, move many inspection responsibilities to the state fire marshal, create a temporary mass-gathering notice and recommend reducing the annual local license from $75 to about $15.
City legal and code staff reviewed proposed amendments to the city—s food-service and mobile-vendor code to conform with recent state legislation commonly called the Food Truck Freedom Act and related fire-code changes.
Melissa, who presented the draft, said the state now promulgates most public-health rules for mobile food vendors and the state fire marshal handles many fire-inspection duties. The city would continue to recognize the state food-establishment license (Title 63) and receive a copy for local records, while focusing local code on public-health and safety risks that remain within municipal authority.
Key changes proposed in the draft ordinance include adopting the state—s definitions for mobile food vendors and mobile food vehicles, adding a "temporary mass gathering" category (defined as an assembly of 300 or more people for two or more hours a day) with a 10-day notice requirement, and eliminating municipal requirements that state law now preempts such as equipment inspections and commissary mandates. Melissa said the city could still require event permits for food trucks at locally permitted events and could adopt metered parking passes for mobile vendors in the future.
Staff recommended reducing the local annual mobile-food license from the current $75 to about $15 to reflect that the state handles many inspection functions; they also proposed a $5 single-event/temporary-mass-gathering notice option. Fire-department staff said they assisted the state in contacting local vendors during the initial rollout and that most vendors complied with state requirements.
The commission asked practical questions about electrical hookups at city venues and whether the city could charge hookup or metered-parking fees; staff said those are options to explore and would be considered as the ordinance is finalized. The draft ordinance will be refined and returned to the commission for a formal vote at a later meeting.
