Iowa City food truck vendor ordinance taking shape

IOWA CITY - Following last year's pilot program, fans of food truck cuisine soon could rejoice over a proposal to allow food truck vendors in Iowa City on a more permanent basis.

The Iowa City Council on Monday will vote on staff-recommended changes to the city code that would expand food truck vending options in Iowa City.

Local Burrito owner Kyle Sieck, who was involved - along with officials from vendor Box Lunch - in the nearly year-long discussion with the city in drafting the ordinance, expressed confidence in the final draft.

'I'm excited that it's finally making it through and it hasn't really met any resistance,” he said. 'It looks like it has a good chance of being passed.”

Under the proposed changes, vendors will be required to receive an annual permit from the city, with permit fees and criteria dictated by administrative rules to be presented to the council before the ordinance's third and final reading. The city likely will limit the number of available permits.

The ordinance would allow food trucks to operate between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. in parking areas on city streets, with operators responsible for parking meter fees.

Permitted vendors will be able to operate in two-hour metered spaces for a maximum of three hours, unless that space allows for longer parking.

Food trucks will not be allowed in residential areas, within 150 feet of any restaurant or in the areas roughly defined as downtown and the Northside marketplace.

The hope behind the restricted areas is so food trucks don't detract from existing brick and mortar businesses.

'We've worked closely with the city over the past year or so as they did their food truck pilot program to make sure it's compatible with downtown businesses,” said Nancy Bird, executive director with the Downtown District.

Seick also noted the collaborative effort between food truck vendors and existing businesses.

'We really spent a lot of time trying to take the downtown businesses' opinions into perspective,” he said. 'We've tried really hard to take a middle path to this.”

The proposal follows last year's pilot program, which allowed food truck vendors to operate at select times at Chauncey Swan Park next to city hall, at the East Side Recycling Center and in City Park.

Seick said the pilot program was successful in showing that food trucks could work in Iowa City, but noted that the specific times and locations made it difficult to see much foot traffic.

The proposed ordinance should ensure more customers for vendors and ultimately expand the city's food truck culture, he said.

'We hope that with more options we can be more consistent with the public,” he said.