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Organizer seeks waiver for food-truck festival; council gives informal go-ahead to prepare resolution
Summary
Britney Brown of Pinch and Poke requested a waiver of the mobile-food-vendor 150-foot rule for a July 25–26 downtown event; council members asked for written restaurant permissions and offered informal consensus to place a resolution on the July 20 agenda (no vote tonight).
Britney Brown, who organized a downtown event for Pinch and Poke tattoo studio, asked the council on July 6 to allow food trucks on Vesper Street for a two-day community festival July 25–26 and to waive the mobile-food-vendor ordinance's 150-foot anti-competition rule for the event.
Brown said organizers secured written permissions from nearby restaurants and that the event is intended to draw visitors to downtown businesses. She told council the food trucks would occupy parking stalls only and would not block traffic; organizers also want meters bagged for the event and noted restroom logistics were a prior concern.
Council members pressed for written permission letters from restaurants to avoid a repeat of past conflicts. Staff advised that the ordinance can be waived by resolution for up to 10 days and that a drafted resolution could be presented at the July 20 meeting. Council offered informal consensus (a head-nod) to proceed to draft a resolution; no formal action was taken this evening.
What happens next: Staff will work with the organizer and the city solicitor to draft a resolution waiving the 150-foot limitation for the specified dates and to document signed permissions from affected restaurants; the resolution will be considered at the July 20 meeting.
