Brookfield has enacted a ban on food trucks parking within 100 feet of brick-and-mortar restaurants in town.
The ban, which trustees approved at Monday’s board meeting, will go into effect Nov. 21. It specifies food trucks may not operate within the 100-foot limit of any restaurant, bakery or other “food establishment” as defined by the village code while that business is open. Food truck owners are also prohibited from running their stands within 300 feet of any Brookfield-run event or any other event held on village or public property, though village staff can waive this restriction if, for example, the food truck is participating in the event.
Village staff brought the item to trustees’ attention at their committee of the whole meeting on Oct. 28 as Brookfield has had time to adjust to the presence of food trucks since the board first allowed them to set up shop in town in February 2023 by creating a license for proprietors. Twelve vendors now hold licenses, Community Development Director Libby Popovic said at the Oct. 28 meeting.
“There’s no limitation for parking, where the mobile food vendors can park, at this time,” she said. “As staff reviewed the reports and reviewed the ordinance, we thought this might be an appropriate time, about a year and a half into it, to review and see if the board would be interested in placing some limitations on that.”
She said village staff recommended the 100-foot restriction as the average of restrictions found in other municipalities, like Cicero and Oak Park.
“We’ve had scenarios where this has come up and come into play,” Village President Michael Garvey said. “We want to support the food truck vendors. They do provide a service. They’ve been very popular, but we also want to support the brick-and-mortar businesses and restaurants.”
During their initial discussion, trustees seemed concerned that 100 feet may be too far to push food trucks from storefronts, but Village Manager Tim Wiberg said it wouldn’t be prohibitive.
“I know 100 feet sounds very far, but that’s like two lots,” he said. “The Theater Building is 50-feet wide, so you put two of those together, and that’s how far away we’re talking.”
The board discussed when the change should go into effect. Popovic initially said she expected the ban to start in 2025 so vendors would have enough notice, but Trustee Edward Côté suggested it go into effect as soon as the board would pass it.
“Do you need enough notice when it’s mobile? I mean, not to sound crazy, but it’s already mobile, so why [do vendors] have to gets months’ notice?” he said. “If they want to set up a mobile burger joint, we don’t want them parking in front of Burger Antics, and they shouldn’t have to wait until 2025 to do so.”
At trustees’ request, staff added a section giving Brookfield the discretion to waive the restriction, though Trustee Kit Ketchmark voiced some hesitancy.
“In terms of the exception, even for special events, I’d like to see us not bring in food trucks and put them right in front of our restaurants,” he said. “With the bike race, it was off to the side. That’s fine, but we should be supporting our permanent, full-time businesses. So, if there are food trucks, there’s always a place for them, but, certainly, it shouldn’t be right in front of our existing food businesses.”
After the Oct. 28 meeting, village staff added the 300-foot limit from special events in response to feedback from the Brookfield Chamber of Commerce.
“They have vendors at some of their special events that pay to sponsor the chamber, and they serve food, and we’ve had some instances of food trucks parking right next to those events, so there’s an additional regulation that was put in here,” Garvey said Monday.
He added that the change is not intended to punish food truck operators.
“We do not want to ban food trucks, but we also want to reward and support the brick-and-mortar establishments we have,” he said.
