Peekskill rolls out draft food-truck policy with designated zones and 200-foot buffer for brick-and-mortar restaurants

Jonathan Zamora, who led the policy drafting, said the city’s mobile-food landscape has matured and needs a framework that balances new vendors with established businesses. The draft sets three permit types — annual, seasonal and event — proposes designated food-truck locations (including a rear cutout at Charles Point and special-event use of DePuy Park) and recommends a 200‑foot buffer from brick‑and‑mortar restaurants unless an exception is approved.

Zamora said the policy will require Department of Health permits, proof of liability insurance, fire-safety inspection and a commissary location for each vendor, and that it seeks to encourage local hiring and sourcing. “It encourages local sourcing and hiring, reinforcing our local ecosystem,” he said. Council members asked for changes to language that would bar trucks from the Business Improvement District and discussed whether ice‑cream trucks and itinerant vendors should be regulated similarly. Legal counsel flagged portions of the proposal that will require local-law changes (fines and solicitor-code coordination) and said staff may implement some location restrictions by policy first while drafting required legislation for other elements. Staff proposed piloting the zones through the summer and returning with coordinated code changes if the pilot proves workable.