CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Receive the report regarding food trucks and direct staff accordingly
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Allison Laff, AICP, Deputy Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
Not required.
BACKGROUND:
Under new business at the January 4, 2022 meeting, City Council directed staff to prepare a report regarding food trucks, including a review of existing Code requirements; health department permits; food and beverage tax; best practices from benchmark cities; and input from the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Naperville Alliance.
Food Truck Types
When discussing food trucks, there are four distinct categories to consider. Each are discussed in detail below.
1. Mobile Vending on Public Property
2. Food Trucks at Special Events
3. Short-Term Food Trucks on Private Property
4. Long-Term Food Trucks on Private Property
1. Mobile Vending on Public Property
The City established a downtown mobile vending program in 2011 that permitted up to 3 mobile food cart permits to be issued annually (note: food trucks were prohibited) on specific City owned properties located within the downtown. Based on the limited success of this program and the significant staff time to administer, the downtown mobile vending program was eliminated in 2018 and no new downtown mobile vending permits will be issued moving forward (note: John's Rib House is grandfathered and permitted to continue vending). Staff supports the decision to eliminate this program and does not recommend that it be reinstated.
Section 3-7-9 (Food Vendor Regulations) permits mobile food trucks (i.e., ice cream trucks) to vend in the City's right-of-way subject to certain restrictions, including a prohibition against such trucks being parked for periods greater than 15 minutes. Per these regulations, a food vendor must be licensed by the City Clerk, submit a copy of their annual DuPage and Will County health ...
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