Council keeps mobile-food-vendor ordinance amendment on track after health-district concerns

The Spokane City Council voted 6-1 during an April 20 agenda review to keep an amendment to Ordinance 36863, which revises the city's mobile food vending rules, on the agenda for first reading on April 27 despite a recent statement from the local health district expressing concerns.

Adam McDaniel briefed the council on an amendment in the packet that makes three main changes: it updates refrigeration references to align with the Washington State Retail Food Code, moves the mobile food vending unit definition currently in city code, and alters the restaurant definition language from "sold" to "served" to better reflect how some establishments operate.

McDaniel said staff coordinated the language with the health district, the fire department and other regulators and will direct applicants to the health district for licensing and safety requirements. "We're committed to making sure that when folks come in to get a business license or if they're interested in starting a mobile food vending unit, we point them in the right direction to the health district, to Eleni, to the fire department," McDaniel said.

A council member noted a health-district statement that had been circulated shortly before the meeting and said they would vote against keeping the amendment on the current track because of remaining concerns. Council members were invited to contact health-district leadership for technical follow-up; no changes to the ordinance text were adopted at the agenda review and the amendment will proceed as scheduled for first reading on April 27.

The meeting also included a broader procedural vote earlier in the review to suspend council rules and add two items to the agenda; that motion passed on a reported voice vote of six to one. No final ordinance vote was taken on April 20.