Council approves food-truck owner's permit amendment pending 48-hour legal review

The Newport City Council on Sept. -- voted to approve, pending legal review, an amendment to a vendor permit for local food-truck operator Fred LeClaire.

LeClaire told the council he moved his trailer from its prior location to his home and addressed generator-noise complaints by wiring the trailer to his house. He said staff visited, that some food had to be discarded, and that he had applied to amend the permit after missing a prior agenda because the city manager was away.

Council member Curtis introduced the item and said the purpose of bringing LeClaire to the meeting was to give the full council and the city manager an opportunity to weigh in. Council members and staff raised two issues: whether the property is in a residential district and whether parking or traffic would become problematic if the business operated at the home address. Police staff reported that the generator problem appeared resolved and identified parking on the street as a potential constraint.

Mayor (Speaker 1) moved that the council approve the amendment to the vendor permit pending that the mayor and city manager research any legal issues and report back within 48 hours; that motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The council directed staff to confirm zoning or permitting constraints and return findings within 48 hours.

Under the motion the permit amendment is allowed to proceed unless staff report a legal barrier in the required timeframe. The council did not make any additional permit conditions at the time of the vote.

Next steps: the mayor and city manager will report legal findings to the council within 48 hours. If staff identify a legal impediment, council members said they will revisit the permit in a subsequent meeting.