Riverside trustees have approved rules for food trucks to visit town as part of an event hosted by a resident or existing business, but the village board did not yet decide how to regulate food truck businesses that want to set up shop on their own.
At their April 3 meeting, trustees directed staff to allow food trucks, as part of a “special event” put on by someone with a preexisting tie to the village, to operate in any part of the village on private property a limited number of times. While trustees discussed the possibility of allowing food truck businesses to operate independently in town, they did not come to a consensus on whether they should be barred within a certain distance of brick-and-mortar restaurants.
Trustee Jill Mateo was absent from the discussion.
The board did not take any final action at the meeting that affects how food trucks operate in Riverside, though trustees will likely review at least one ordinance on the matter at meetings in the near future.
Based on staff recommendations presented by Assistant Village Manager Ashley Monroe, food trucks that are being brought to town by an event will be permitted through Riverside’s special events application process. They will be allowed to operate in Riverside for up to three consecutive days as part of what the village considers one event, and each truck can return for up to 12 recurring events — occurring over the same time spam and organized by the same individual or group — per application, though these numbers are not yet final.
For example, “Let’s say charity number one has 12 events, and they hire Joe’s food truck for all 12 events. Charity B has 12 events, and they hire Joe’s food truck. That’s OK,” Village President Doug Pollock said. “Joe can be here as much as he wants … It’s the sponsor that’s being limited, not the actual food truck.”
Monroe recommended a flat fee of $30 per special event application involving a food truck, though she said it would be a private agreement between the truck and the Riverside-based sponsor on who pays the fee.
When the discussion turned to food truck businesses that would operate regularly within the village, trustees’ opinions appeared to be split on whether Riverside should ban them within 100, 200 or 300 feet of existing restaurants, based on distances for pedestrians to get from the truck to the restaurant’s front door. The buffer would not apply to food trucks in town for special events.
Trustee Elizabeth Kos suggested regulating food truck locations based on the kind of food they sell. Currently, the single food truck that operates regularly in Riverside, Prime Tacos, does so at Rmarts along Harlem Avenue, about 300 feet north of El Faro; both serve Mexican food.
“I wouldn’t say that they’re similar menus, but it’s both Mexican food. I don’t know this for a fact, but El Faro might love a cupcake food truck opening right near them, right?” she said. “There might need to be some wording of a similar menu because, depending on what kind of food truck we’re talking about, it might actually be beneficial to have it closer to them.”
However, Village Attorney Robert Pickrell advised against it: “From a legal perspective, it’s going to be very hard to describe that in a way that’s going to be understandable and enforceable.”
As trustees discussed, the conversation centered on whether allowing food trucks would be fair to the operators of brick-and-mortar restaurants who have invested in opening a location in Riverside. Kos and Trustee Megan Claucherty said the board could not know the consequences of allowing food trucks would and that trustees may have to revisit the topic in the future to change regulations.
Kos pointed out that there are few private parking lots near downtown Riverside where a food truck business could park, as they would not be allowed to park on the roadway as public property. Food trucks could potentially park in the Masonic Temple’s parking lot or that of Riverside Foods, but only with the permission of the property owners.
“If you put a separation requirement, I think it’s safe to say that food trucks are prohibited from downtown,” Pollock said. “Effectively prohibited, because every property is within 100 feet of a restaurant.”
Claucherty pointed out that, as village code currently stands, food trucks could set up shop downtown, but none have.
At the end of the discussion, Kos, Claucherty and Trustee Alex Gallegos said they were in favor of having no buffer requirement downtown while trustees Aberdeen Marsh-Ozga and Cristin Evans said they would want a buffer to protect existing restaurants.
The board agreed to have staff to research where so-called “business” food trucks could park on private property in Riverside and bring the item back before the board at a future meeting with a full slate of trustees.
