Business owners, residents press Shelton council over food-truck enforcement and permitting

Dozens of residents and mobile food vendors urged the Shelton City Council on June 16 to revise how the city applies health, building and accessibility requirements to food trucks, saying repeated inspections and shifting rules have punished operators and narrowed opportunities for entrepreneurs, including people with disabilities.

Sue White, owner of Sweet Lila's Snow Cone and Sweet Lila's Kitchen, told the council that a building inspector “actually walked onto my truck unbeknownst to me and did an inspection on my truck, which is illegal.” White said she has been working with Washington State Labor & Industries and called the pattern of enforcement “overreach” that has left her and other vendors too afraid to operate.

Jackie Jewett and her husband Dean described long-standing community contributions — fundraising, youth events and veteran giveaways — and said the permitting process for their Mason Food Court and Mason Hotel felt inconsistent and humiliating. Dean Jewett told the council that five food trucks at his site could generate about $80,000 in monthly sales and pushed for a permitting approach that encourages, rather than deters, investment.

Several other speakers backed that view. David Brazoban Hayden, a food-truck operator at Dean Jewett’s lot, said he had watched owners pour money into the site only to face successive compliance demands. Kat Otto, a parent of an adult with disabilities, said the food court provided a safe, inclusive space where people with disabilities saw themselves represented in business ownership.

City staff acknowledged gaps and said many requirements come from state law. The city manager explained that the municipality “relies upon state code, the RCWs, the WACs, to inform us on ... what health and safety and sanitation codes need to be met,” and that the city’s municipal code has limited local language governing where mobile vendors can operate. Staff flagged common problems found in inspections — improper grease/waste connections, daisy‑chained extension cords and remote propane tanks hooked to noncompliant structures — and said a compliance handout was issued in February to help operators.

Councilmembers responded by asking staff to research the applicable state and international building-code interpretations, to compile examples from other cities, and to return with more detail at a study session before the end of summer. Several councilmembers emphasized they want to support small businesses while ensuring public safety and accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The meeting did not result in immediate code changes; it ended with a council direction to staff to prepare a study-session briefing that compares state requirements, local options and how other jurisdictions balance seating, restroom requirements and public-safety standards.

What happens next: council members asked staff to return with code citations, legal interpretations and examples from peer cities and to schedule a study session to consider possible revisions.