Lexington, KY – Starting with Tuesday afternoon’s council work session and continuing at Thursday night’s council meeting, the issue of food trucks will be debated.
The council will be considering a pilot program brought forth by a Food Truck Work Group that consisted of members of council and ex-officio members from downtown organizations, the mayor’s office, downtown business and restaurant owners.
The program would allow a six-month period in which mobile food vendors that are already licensed and that are vending from carts or trucks “which can safely operate out of a street parking space or area” to operate from on-street parking spaces in specified zones.
foodtruckzone
Click here to see a downtown map of the proposed food truck zones.
The zones (pictured at the right) are:
• South Limestone between the intersections of Vine Street and Main Street;
• West Vine Street between the intersections of South Broadway and South Upper Avenue;
• East High Street between the intersections of South Martin Luther King Boulevard and South Limestone;
• Elm Tree Lane between the intersections of Corral Street and East 4th Street;
• and West High Street between the intersections of South Upper Avenue and South Mill Street.
Under the proposed ordinance, in those zones, trucks may only operate between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
After 10 p.m., vendors can operate outside of the specified zones as long as they are in a legal parking space, not within 100 feet of the main entrance of a business during its operating hours – parking across the street from an open business is allowed – or within 100 feet of a residential zone.
The plan has come under fire from the Cheapside Entertainment District Association (CEDA), an organization that represents more 30 bars, taverns, retail and restaurant owners in downtown.
The group is seeking a 90-day halt to this process so their concerns can be addressed.
“We are opposed to the use of metered spaces in downtown for the use of food trucks,” states a letter to council members signed by CEDA President Ralph Coldiron and its Secretary/Treasurer Justin Thompson. “One of the biggest challenges that our association’s existing downtown business owners consistently deal with is offering adequate parking for their customers.”
The letter also address concerns about public restrooms and that a lack of them would require the existing small businesses in the area to be subject to non-customers using their facilities. In addition, the letter questions what the plan would be for trash collection.
“We have noticed that when food trucks have been present at special events recently, that some of them put their trash in Herbies that are dedicated for downtown businesses. We would like to see some type of wording that addresses what enforcement will be taken, if food trucks throw their trash into Herbies that belong to downtown businesses,” the letter states.
Tuesday’s council work session starts at 3 p.m.