NAMPA, Idaho — The Nampa City Council is working on creating a new Mobile Food Vendor License for food trucks that operate in the city. After many members of the public spoke out at Monday night's city council meeting, the council chose not to act on the issue and instead plan to receive input from vendors before making revisions.
- Food trucks in Nampa currently fall under the Peddlers and Solicitors code.
- The goal of the proposed Mobile Food Vendor license is to make regulations and restrictions clearer for potential and existing licensees.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
The future of food trucks is up for debate in Nampa. Much of Monday night's city council meeting centered around a new proposed Mobile Food Vendor License.
"The current code and past code for Nampa City is outdated," said Jennifer Lindsey, owner and operator of Boxcar Bistro, a food truck in Nampa serving sandwiches. Lindsey was one of the people who spoke out at the meeting.
Food trucks in Nampa currently fall under the Peddlers and Solicitors code, but the city is looking to change that.
Lindsey says the city needs to consult food truck businesses in their decision.
"The things you wish you knew when you began a food truck, you don't know until you're out there doing it," Lindsey said.
The city tells me a decision is on hold and they plan to meet with food truck vendors before moving forward.
Some of the current licensing criteria would require food trucks to either leave their location every night or stay in place, but hide their truck from public view.
That doesn't sit well with RaeAnn Birney, one of the owners of The Perking Spot in Nampa.
"My word of mouth is the back of my trailer," Birney said. "That's what people see as they're passing by and so to to cover it would also mean to move it or construct something to hide it."
Birney says if they have to comply with the new requirements, they may have to close up shop. "This is our livelihood so if you hide us, we will never be successful and everyone's gonna go out of business anyway," she said.
But Birney is hopeful the city will be able to come to a positive outcome.
"I really feel like a huge thank you to to the mayor because she looked at us and said 'We did not do this right, we should've talked to you guys first and we want to work together,' and that was a huge win," Birney said.
