Streator council will address food truck rules

A permit is required to operate a mobile food truck in Streator, but City Council members may modify the city’s fee structure, among other items in its ordinance.

As seemingly more food trucks are taking up operations, the City Council discussed the topic Tuesday of regulating them, asking questions of whether fees should be different for in-town versus out-of-town vendors, for proprietors operating for a single day or weekend, and/or if rules need modified for selling on private versus public property.

There are five licensed mobile food vendors, said City Clerk Patricia Henderson. A licensed mobile food vendor must show proof of their driver’s license, business and health certifications and undergo a background check to receive a permit. The permit application is $150 for six months, or $200 annually.

It is up to Streator police, as a matter of practice through its community service officer, to enforce the ordinance. The ordinance does not apply to food vendors set up within a festival, which is governed by a separate ordinance.

City Attorney Sheryl Churney suggested the city could make the permits large and brightly-colored to help officers and community members identify what vendors the city has certified through its permitting process.

Council members expressed a desire to reduce the fee structure for food truck operators who pay property taxes within the city for their business comparable to other applicants.

Churney said the idea of regulating mobile food vendors is to protect brick-and-mortar establishments by ensuring the mobile vendors are paying sales tax and practicing health codes.

Henderson said no Streator business owners have complained to City Hall staff about mobile food vendors. City Engineer Jeremy Palm said the discussion brought before the council was instigated by residents calling City Hall and asking whether it was legal for a mobile vendor to operate in City Park. It is not without a permit.

Palm said there have been no issues of mobile food vendors setting up on public property. Most of them are set up on private property with permission from the property owner, and in some cases, the operator is the property owner. Palm said food truck operators don’t need a permit to have a food truck on their own established business property.

Palm said city staff would draft a few different ordinances for the City Council to consider and council members agreed to continue their discussion at a future meeting. Mayor Jimmie Lansford asked council members to send any further questions or concerns to city staff to consider when making the ordinance drafts.