Council holds first reading on replacing 'food truck' rules with 'transient businesses'

City attorney Bill Fife led a first reading on June 20 of proposed Ordinance No. 26-519, which would amend the city zoning ordinance (Article 2 definitions; Article 5 district regulations; Article 7 supplemental development regulations) to replace references to 'food trucks' and 'food truck parks' with a broader 'transient business' construct and attendant standards. Fife said the change affects definitions, Table 5.21 (permitted vs. special-land-use categories), and approval procedures; the ordinance's effective date would be seven days after publication if adopted. "This is an ordinance to amend the city of El Pena zoning ordinance," Fife said in opening the item.

Council members discussed concerns raised at the planning commission and by downtown merchants about whether transient vendors might draw customers away from established storefronts. One council member noted that planning-commission input included viewpoints from both supporters and opponents and that the city's 2025 master-plan survey—1,400 responses—showed 82% favoring food trucks, transient sales and pop-up markets. Questions also centered on whether insurance or health-department requirements should be explicitly required in the ordinance for operations on private property; staff said current insurance verification is required only for vendors on city-owned property or in the right-of-way and that private-property arrangements typically rely on agreements between the property owner and the vendor. The ordinance will return for further review and a second reading.