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Council signals move to lift food‑truck permit cap, seeks zoning and hours rules to limit concentration
Summary
After public testimony from vendors and residents, Lodi staff were directed to draft amendments to vendor-permit rules that would remove the city’s numerical cap on permitted private‑property vendors while adding location, hours and zoning limits (e.g., downtown mixed‑use exclusions) and potential pilot safeguards.
City staff told the council on April 15 that Lodi’s municipal code currently limits vendor permits to one permitted vendor per 2,800 residents (approximately 25 permits) and that the cap has left a wait list of about 10 vendors. Johnny Andrews, senior community improvement officer, said the staff’s enforcement workload is growing and that the cap may be driving unpermitted vending.
Several vendors and residents urged the council to lift or increase the cap. Amomar Ali, a vendor on the waiting list, said he wants to operate halal food trucks for Lodi’s Muslim community but cannot because of the cap. “We want to operate the right way,” he said. “We have all the paperwork. I went through the city to get the permit and I’m getting told I can’t operate.” His supporters said Lodi should encourage diverse food options rather than limit entry.
Staff presented four options: keep the cap, increase the cap to one per 1,500 residents (about 46 permits), an intermediate increase (one per 1,350 residents ≈ 51 permits), or eliminate the cap and regulate operations (spacing, hours, health and safety). Staff and council discussed tradeoffs: removing the cap could reduce unpermitted vendors and focus enforcement on health and safety, but it could also risk oversaturation without zoning or hours limits.
Council direction and next steps: Council members generally favored removing the numerical cap while directing staff to draft ordinance language that would (a) regulate allowable hours and locations by zoning district (for example limiting trucks on downtown main‑street corridors to special events), (b) prohibit vending in residential neighborhoods, and (c) prepare a one‑ to two‑year pilot or an expedited code amendment with review after a set period. Council asked staff to prioritize vendors who have been on the waiting list for extended periods in any interim accommodation that staff can lawfully provide while the ordinance moves through the planning and council process.
What happens next: Staff said code amendments must go to the Planning Commission and then back to council; under the fastest timeline staff estimated Planning Commission review and a council public hearing could bring an ordinance to final effect in roughly three to five months. Staff will draft a proposal that removes the numerical cap, includes zoning-based restrictions and presents a timeline for implementation and interim accommodations for vendors already waiting.
