By Mary Thurwachter
After discussing the matter at three workshops, the Lantana Town Council on Feb. 23 revised its ordinance regulating food trucks on public and private property.
“The old ordinance was made before the proliferation of food trucks,” Mayor Karen Lythgoe said, adding it was time for an update.
The council said it doesn’t want food trucks to take business away from brick-and-mortar restaurants, but it wants to be able to have them at popular community events.
Food trucks have been only allowed on public property during town-sponsored events. Food trucks on private property have been limited to three hours of operation at any given time and must have the written consent of the property owner.
Other venues where food trucks are stationary in one location and operate like a standard restaurant must follow normal restaurant regulations.
Going forward, food trucks will be prohibited at commercial, industrial and mixed-use properties. Block parties will require Town Council approval due to their high impact.
Those living in residential districts are limited to one food truck party per quarter.
“We don’t want residents having a party every weekend using a food truck,” Vice Mayor Kem Mason said. “That’s why we are going to limit them to once a quarter. We want to be fair to everybody.”
“This is not to prevent people from making a buck,” Lythgoe said of the ordinance. “But if they’re not regulated, it could be causing hazards. And we can also tweak it if need be."
What this means, she said, is “the guy with a food truck can’t just pull over to the boat docks on Saturday and start selling stuff and then dump the leftovers into the bin. And then, of course, garbage doesn’t get picked up for two or three days and then you’ve got rats.”
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