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Planning board backs removing 250-foot spacing for food vendors, sending amendment to City Council
Summary
The Jacksonville Planning Advisory Board recommended a Unified Development Ordinance amendment that would eliminate a 250-foot spacing restriction for food vendors, move food‑truck signage rules into Section 512, and otherwise treat mobile food vendors like other businesses; the item proceeds to a March 17 city council public hearing amid an ongoing lawsuit by three food-truck operators.
The Jacksonville Planning Advisory Board on Monday voted to recommend a text amendment to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance that would remove a 250-foot spacing requirement for food vendors and defer food-truck signage rules to the general sign code in Section 512.
Planning staff member Ryan introduced the single agenda item and told the board the amendment makes three targeted changes: strike the 250-foot spacing standard that prevented food vendors from locating near other vendors, resolve a conflict in subsection 4 of the accessory-use standards, and remove food-truck-specific signage language so that mobile vendors follow the same sign regulations as other businesses. He said the proposal will be advertised for a public hearing at city council on March 17.
The city attorney told the board a lawsuit has been filed against the city by three plaintiffs — food-truck owners Anthony Proctor and Octavius Raymond and Nicole Gonzalez, owner of Northwoods Urban Farm — alleging that the ordinance’s special spacing, signage and fee rules treated food trucks unfairly. "We did have a lawsuit filed against the city," the attorney said, adding that staff concluded the city can accomplish health, safety and welfare goals while treating food trucks under the same requirements as other businesses.
Board members debated the balance between protecting established brick-and-mortar restaurants and avoiding regulation that applies only to one business type. One member warned that removing spacing could harm long-standing restaurants that have invested in the downtown; another said that many other standards (parking, buffers, health and safety) remain in place and that the 250-foot rule was not applied to brick-and-mortar establishments.
A motion by board member Mr. Springs to recommend the amendment as consistent with the KMA plan goals cited in staff materials carried by voice vote. The board’s recommendation and the required public hearing will move the item to the Jacksonville City Council on March 17 for final consideration.
The staff packet notes the fee schedule that applies to food vendors is adopted annually by the city council as part of the budget; that fee change is separate from this UDO text amendment and will be considered by council as part of its budget process. The staff report also references prior work: the underlying food-vendor rules trace to a pilot program adopted in January 2021 and are now being recalibrated.
What happens next: the board’s recommendation is advisory; city council will hold the advertised public hearing and vote. The lawsuit remains pending; staff and the attorney cautioned that the amendment is not a guarantee of any legal outcome but is intended to treat mobile vendors the same as other businesses under local zoning and sign rules.
