Staff proposes separate rules for ice-cream trucks, limiting residential stops and hours

City administration asked the council to amend the existing mobile-food ordinance to add a definition and separate regulatory section for mobile ice-cream trucks.

Jody Booker, the administrative assistant, said most of the changes are drawn from other municipalities and are limited to adding the mobile-ice-cream-truck term to permit and regulation sections. The requested changes would allow ice-cream trucks to operate in residential areas where the speed limit is 25 mph, but would prohibit them from operating in city parks or pool areas. Booker said proposed hours would be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and trucks could not remain in the public right-of-way for longer than 10 minutes without relocating. The draft would also add a sound constraint that music or audio must not be audible beyond roughly 1,000 feet.

Booker said the intent is to allow legitimate ice-cream vendors while avoiding creating a loophole that would let full food-truck operators claim residential access. To do that, the ordinance would add a separate section of regulations specific to mobile ice-cream trucks while keeping existing permitting, issuance fees and licensing requirements in place for food trucks.

Councilmembers asked whether prepackaged food would be required (answered in the draft as likely prepackaged), whether community-event permits continue to take precedence for event-sponsored trucks, and whether some broader ordinance tweaks should be considered if the council opens the code for this change. Staff said community-event permits remain the process for event vendors.