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Board to draft standalone food-truck ordinance; Pike County official offers sample
Summary
Smithfield supervisors signaled support for creating a standalone food-truck ordinance to distinguish mobile vendors from transient retail, limit use on unimproved lots, and clarify permitting; a Pike County official offered to share a recently adopted ordinance for comparison.
Chair Jacob Pride told the board he prefers a standalone food-truck ordinance that treats mobile vendors as an accessory use and ties operation to an improved lot or principal business, rather than relying on the township's older transient-retail rules.
"I think we should just have a separate food truck ordinance," Pride said, arguing it would make enforcement clearer and preserve special-event flexibility for festivals. Discussion covered whether festival organizers should hold permits for multiple vendors, exemptions for prepackaged-food vendors, and limits on residential or long-duration operations.
A public commenter who identified themself as working for a Pike County township said they recently adopted a food-truck ordinance and offered to share it with Smithfield staff; the commenter said they would send the sample by the end of the week. Board members asked staff to assemble sample ordinances and to work with operators and event organizers on draft language.
No ordinance was adopted at the session; board members asked for staff and counsel to prepare a draft for review.
