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City prepares to rewrite food-truck rules after state preemption; zoning and fire-code authority to remain
Summary
Staff briefed council on state laws (cited as "SP 10008" and HB2844) and Department of State Health Services rules that preempt many local food-truck regulations effective July 1; proposed local code changes will remove local permit references but retain zoning, location and fire-safety authority and require vendors to present a state mobile-food license upon request.
City legal staff and consultant Joseph Hayes told the council that recent state legislation and Department of State Health Services rulemaking will largely preempt local regulation of mobile food vendors starting July 1. "Starting on July 1st, all the rules... the city's rules are going to be preempted at that point," Hayes said, and staff recommended amending local code to remove redundant provisions while preserving the city's authority over fire code, zoning and location.
Under the draft, the city would repeal references to food trucks from Chapter 32 (permits for solicitors/peddlers), keep public-safety and zoning controls (for example, to keep trucks out of residential neighborhoods or to restrict operations to designated food-court locations), and add a provision requiring a vendor to present a valid state-issued mobile food vendor license upon a city request. Staff and the consultant advised that the state will issue licenses and may contract with cities to conduct inspections on the state's behalf.
Council asked whether local hours-of-operation or owner-operator "doctor's note" requirements would remain; staff said the state expressly preempted hour limits and many local permit conditions, so those items would go away unless contained in separate private agreements or zoning conditions. Staff recommended returning with a formal ordinance for first reading.
