Right at a year ago, officials from the City of Hattiesburg attended a meeting of Hattiesburg City Council to discuss creating a more business-friendly framework for mobile food truck vendors – in particular, coming up with parameters that allow those vendors to work year-round.
The issue was discussed again at the Nov. 2 council meeting, when city planner Caroline Miles proposed to council members a new ordinance that would – among other things – allow food trucks to park on multiple properly-zoned private properties with owner permission. Currently, food trucks in the Hub City are reviewed under the Transient Vendor ordinance requirements, which Miles said is limited and is more suited for truly transient vendors, such as seasonal merchants.
“We consulted stakeholders for this, and because we modeled it after Oxford, we are reviewing multiple properties that they can park around on private properties,” Miles said. “Then (vendors) are issued a permit, and also, they’re required to have a privilege tax license as well.
“We (have) adopted parameters from the health and safety standards from the Mississippi Department of Health, and we made sure to get some input from the fire department. They’ll be inspecting the units.”
The proposed ordinance does not regulate food trucks at special events, but establishes standard design requirements for sites consistent with other mobile food vendor ordinances in the state.
“Food trucks at special events are outside the scope of what this ordinance is for,” Miles said. “It’s just for those that are operating privately from the City of Hattiesburg.”
As part of the proposal, planners will review site placement as it pertains to pedestrian and vehicle safety, accessibility by the general public with accommodation to the Americans With Disabilities Act, fire safety, zoning, property owner permission, and environmental impact issues. Council members are expected to review the proposed ordinance before further discussion.
“I’m really happy to see y’all bring this forward,” Ward 4 Councilwoman Mary Dryden told Miles. “One of the reasons that I think it’s such a good thing is it gives a person an opportunity to grow a business here. I saw this work really well with Newk’s on Elks Lake Road; they started out with a food truck concept, and it was so extremely popular that they just needed a lot more space.
“So they moved into the building next to where they had the food truck, and then they had to increase the size of the space they were renting in the building. I think a lot of people start out with a grand concept that maybe they can’t afford to implement, or they’re not really ready to implement. I think this gives people the opportunity to grow a good, sound business.”
Samantha McCain, the city’s chief communication officer, said a critical element to review for mobile food vendors is their access to an approved waste site.
“Ideally, this may be a partnership with a local restaurant that has an adequate dumpster and grease trap and hot/cold water wash so that food waste and food prep waste can be properly disposed of,” she said in a previous story. “Food trucks are also required to adhere to certain fire protection codes.
“Once a transient vendor has the transient vendor license through the city’s tax division, the Planning Division can turn around approvals for specific locations pretty quickly – same day or next day is our aim.”
