Food trucks have become a familiar sight around the country and have recently emerged as popular dining options for those on Auburn University’s campus.

The first trucks arrived on campus last year, and Tiger Dining continues to work to bring new options to campus. Current campus food trucks include Tex’s Tacos, featuring Tex-Mex cuisine, and local favorite Momma Goldberg’s; others, like Kona Ice and Honeysuckle Gelato, continue to make trips to Auburn seasonally or for special events. The newest addition, Munch Food Truck, offers a fresh and healthy Asian menu. Another Tex’s Taco permanent venue at Terrell Food Court opens this month with an expanded menu and late night hours.

“With the growing popularity of ‘street food’ nationwide, the university recognized multiple opportunities for Tiger Dining to better serve students by increasing points of sale and decreasing lines,” said Jon Waggoner, interim director of dining services. “We wanted to create the exciting, healthy options that student feedback was indicating as a central demand and concern.”

The food trucks are part of Tiger Dining’s response to student demand for faster service times and increased variety of food options on campus.

“It started as somewhat of an experiment with different food options and space and turned into an extremely popular commodity,” said Gina Wells, Tiger Dining marketing manager. “First instinct drove us to reach out to trucks that were already successful in their home base and already had a great following. We then used our current knowledge of the traffic flow, class breaks and other known research on the campus to derive where they should be located and the best hours of operation for our customers.”

Waggoner said that one of their main goals is to encourage the social engagement of students, contributing to the “Living Learning Community” model, by providing popular, healthy options on campus and enabling students to return to studying more quickly, allowing them to enjoy the overall on-campus experience.

Tiger Dining created the name, Tiger Traxx, to represent the food trucks and they are regularly working to bring new variety and value to campus. Under the name Tiger Traxx, students, faculty and staff can follow the trucks on Facebook, Twitter and the dining app, which is part of the official Auburn University app, to access hours, locations and specials.

“The Tiger Traxx food trucks are always being updated in an effort to continuously provide new variety and value,” Wells said. “We’re always looking into the possibility of bringing new trucks on campus and welcome any suggestions that students may have or any food truck owners who are interested in approaching us to discuss their concepts. This spring semester we welcome a new Asian concept within a food truck called Munch, which offers a variety of fresh and healthy cuisine with choices like a Thai cucumber salad, veggie potstickers and a popular favorite, the bim bim bap – a rice bowl with pork, chicken or tofu and served with mushrooms, kimchi, bean sprouts, onion and topped with a poached egg.”

http://ocm.auburn.edu/featured_story/food_trucks.html#.UP2F3h2mg8M

]]> http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2013/01/auburn-ca-auburn-food-trucks-bring-variety-convenience-to-campus/feed/ 0 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2013/01/auburn-ca-auburn-city-council-bans-food-trucks-around-placer-high/ http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/2013/01/auburn-ca-auburn-city-council-bans-food-trucks-around-placer-high/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2013 19:26:34 +0000 MFN Editor #1 http://www.mobilefoodnews.com/?p=38961 By Jon Schultz | Auburn Journal

Debate over food trucks in Auburn and where they should be allowed to operate ignited fervor in the council chambers from October to December between people who liked the idea of having them around town and those who thought they were a detriment to the city.

The food fight ended in a fizzle, however.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, the city tightened restrictions against mobile food vendors even further, yet for the first time in public hearings on the topic, not a soul peeped up against the stricter limitations being proposed.

After finalizing a prohibition of food trucks from Old Town and Downtown Auburn on private property, the Auburn City Council voted 5-0 on Monday to restrict them from the city streets in that area, as well as banning them from within 1,000 feet of Placer High School.

The initial proposal would have allowed them on streets adjacent to the high school, but after the Placer Union High School District said it had concerns about safety and health issues, the council unanimously agreed with the distance requirement.

“I think the distance separation makes a lot of sense because of the traffic around the high school,” Mayor Kevin Hanley said, citing narrow streets and congestion during drop-off and pick-up times. “I would be concerned if we had food trucks near the school having kids walking back and forth, cars coming forward. It presents a dangerous situation, so I think there are good health and safety reasons to adopt either the 750-foot or 1,000-foot radius.”

Maria’s Mexican Tacos had been Auburn’s lone food truck, regularly operating Downtown on private lots, but since the private property ordinance had been approved in October, it has found a new location in North Auburn on Atwood Road across from the Placer County government center.

Its owner, Maria Moreno, said in a past interview with the Journal that she would not have operated her food truck near the high school out of respect to Taco Tree – a popular destination among students for lunch.

Taco Tree owner Jim Anderson, the only speaker during public comment, voiced his support for a 1,000-foot buffer zone from the high school.

Anderson said food trucks shouldn’t be allowed to “take the cream off the top” by coming in during peak times and taking customers from businesses like his who grind it out all year long. Parking is already limited near his restaurant, he added.

The council briefly discussed food trucks in the public right of way at its Oct. 22 meeting, but postponed the public hearing, seeking more input from the city attorney and the school district.

“The Placer High School campus crosses numerous city streets,” wrote Dave Horsey, district superintendent, in an email to the city. “Having students in these streets during peak rush hour traffic before and after school and during lunch time presents a danger to students standing at these vehicles parked on city streets adjacent to Placer High School.”

Furthermore, the district is obliged to provide a nutritious lunch, and it is concerned about having mobile food vendors near the school that don’t meet federal standards, Horsey wrote.

City staff recommended if council wanted to restrict food trucks on public streets near the high school that it implement the 1,000-foot radius used by Grass Valley, Napa and Riverside.  That was also the distance requested by Placer High School, Councilman Dr. Bill Kirby said.

Although much of the discussion surrounding the ban on food trucks from private property in Old Town and Downtown centered around the effect on brick-and-mortar businesses, the city attorney said the basis for prohibiting them on public right of way must be related to safety.

Also included in the public right of way ordinance: A food truck can operate in the same location for up to one hour in a 24-hour period before it must relocate at least 500 feet; it must park parallel to the curb with its serving window facing the sidewalk; and it must display a sign telling customers to not use restrooms of a nearby business unless patronizing it.

On Dec. 3 the council held a second reading of the private property ordinance but made an amendment to the areas in which mobile food vendors would be banned.

Originally, council members voted to ban them from the Historic Design Review District encompassing Old Town and Downtown Auburn, but after learning the scope was larger than some had known, the boundaries of the restriction were scaled back and a new map identifying the prohibited areas has been created.

That zoning map is also the one being applied to determine the boundaries of the Old Town and Downtown ban in the public right of way. Councilwoman Bridget Powers said that she wanted to ensure Borland Avenue was not included in the ban, which it wasn’t.

The council also amended the ordinance to include having food trucks be subjected to Business Improvement District fees.

The rules on food trucks on private property will take effect in 30 days.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/auburn-city-council-bans-food-trucks-around-placer-high

When the Auburn City Council reconvenes for the first meeting of the New Year on Monday, one of the hotter topics from late 2012 will be back on the agenda: the mobile food truck ordinance.

The council will have a public hearing on food trucks in the public right of way, including possible adoption of a rule that would ban them from operating within 1,000 feet of Placer High School, and a second hearing on the private property ordinance.

Regarding food trucks in the public right of way, the council briefly discussed the matter at its Oct. 22 meeting, but postponed the hearing to this Monday, seeking more input from the city attorney and Placer Union High School District.

The district expressed concern to the city about having mobile food vendors operating near the Placer High School campus and asked to have a certain distance separation requirement effected, according to a city memo.

After consulting with city officials from Grass Valley, Napa and Riverside about food trucks’ proximity to schools, the planning commission recommends if the council wants to impose a distance requirement that it ban them from operating within 1,000 feet of the high school, according to the report.

“The Placer High School campus crosses numerous city streets,” wrote Dave Horsey, district superintendent, in an email to the city. “Having students in these streets during peak rush hour traffic before and after school and during lunch time presents a danger to students standing at these vehicles parked on city streets adjacent to Placer High School.”

Furthermore, the district is obliged to provide a nutritious lunch, and it is concerned about having mobile food vendors nearby the school that don’t meet federal standards, Horsey wrote.

On Dec. 3 the council held a second reading of the private property ordinance but made an amendment to the areas in which mobile food vendors would be banned.

Originally, council members voted to ban them from the Historic Design Review District, but after learning the scope was larger than some had known, the boundaries of the restriction were scaled back and a new map indentifying the prohibited areas has been created.

The council also amended the ordinance to include having food trucks be subjected to Business Improvement District fees.

If the council adopts the ordinance after the second reading, it will implemented 30 days later.

http://www.auburnjournal.com/article/auburn-city-council-assess-banning-food-trucks-near-placer-high

A Maria’s food-truck server hands Adam Whitley his order Monday in Downtown Auburn. Michael Kirby/Auburn Journal

New law would allow vehicles to remain in one place

AUBURN CA – The great food-truck debate raging in communities across the nation has touched down in Auburn.

With the trendy food truck craze continuing to challenge local-government rule-makers keeping one eye on established, brick-and-mortar businesses, a Maria’s Mexican Tacos truck has been setting up temporary shop in a handful of Downtown Auburn locations for several months.

A well-known local restaurant at its own permanent location off Bowman Road, Maria’s branched out in the food-truck business under a license that allows it to open for no longer than 30 minutes at a time on private property.

“Once we open our doors, we have 30 minutes at any one location,” said owner Maria Moreno.

After that, the truck must move on. In the case of the mobile Maria’s location, it’s a quick drive across Lincoln Way from one parking lot to another. The eatery has agreements with three property owners to use parking-lot space.

Now, Moreno said she’s working with city of Auburn planning and code enforcement officials on an addition to the Auburn Municipal Code that would allow the truck to stay at one location rather than be moved around every half hour. As rules currently stand, Maria’s faces a $100 fine if the truck is cited for vending for more than 30 minutes.

“People like what we’re doing and I’m excited,” Moreno said. “I’m hoping to park it here the whole day.”

The city Planning Commission was to have held a public hearing on the addition of mobile food vendor rules to city regulations. The commission is expected to consider the new regulations, which were pulled off this Tuesday’s agenda, at a hearing on Sept. 4.

Bob Snyder, former Auburn mayor and a member of the Planning Commission said he became aware of concerns over the Maria’s truck and its potential impact on Downtown Auburn restaurant business earlier this year. His suggestion was to take a complaint to the city.

“This issue has been going on for about five years (in other communities),” Snyder said. “It’s nothing new – trying to establish regulations that don’t exclude food trucks but make them abide by regulations, while making things a little fairer for businesses that have sunk capital into a site.”

Snyder said that the demand is there for food trucks that have taken the concept of what were once lunch wagons serving pedestrian fare and turned it into a trendy way to buy a lunch.

Gary Harwell saw the Maria’s truck Monday at noon while at a nearby bank and stopped in to place an order.

“Are they killing business? It doesn’t look like it’s going to ruin the restaurant business in Auburn,” Harwell said. “Sacramento is having a lot of trouble with it. They’ve got two hours in one spot and then they have to move at least 700 feet.”

Reg Murray, Auburn senior planner, said Maria’s rules are spelled out in its business license and there are no restrictions on how far the move has to be from one site to another.

“Once they open their doors, they have 30 minutes at any one location,” Murray said.

Bill Veerkamp, owner of Burney’s Old Fashion Hot Dogs in Downtown Auburn, said he sees both sides of the issue, having once operated from a food cart.

Brick and mortar businesses have overhead costs like rent and utilities but the cost of a food truck includes everything from gas to actual payments on the vehicle, he said.

From the Burney’s perspective, having a hot-dog truck parked in front of his store and charging less for hot dogs would likely be legal but a breach of what Veerkamp describes as an unwritten rule.

Veerkamp said that it would be difficult to say whether the Maria’s truck has cost him business.

“I do know that when ever she was at the same event as me, here food was so good, it would make a difference,” Veerkamp said. “I lovingly called her the hot-dog killer.”

And while Maria’s wrestles with current business-license restrictions, another restaurant has found that a complaint-driven code enforcement system in a competitive economy reacts quickly.

Ethan O’Hagan, Old Town Pizza general manager, said the business thought it had found a niche selling pizza at noon-hour to Placer High students outside Central Square’s Tango yogurt shop.

The sales were ordered inside, where they were allowed, on a complaint from a nearby business.

Taking the next step of establishing an Old Town Pizza food truck would be difficult, O’Hagan said.

Auburn City Manager Bob Richardson said that the Maria’s food truck startup did spark several complaints.

“We’re working with the community to find the right balance between locations and the desires of merchants in town,” Richardson said.

http://auburnjournal.com/detail/216187.html

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