Jessica Noto served Jordan Todd from a truck parked outside West Sixth Brewing Company on Thursday. The proposed ordinance would allow food trucks in metered public parking spaces in some downtown locations. Councilwoman Shevawn Akers said she plans to bring up the proposal at next week’s session, with passage possible in early June.

Lexington’s Urban County Council spent two hours on Tuesday discussing details about a proposed six-month pilot program to create five food truck zones downtown.

The discussion covered everything from where and when the trucks can set up on the street to who would enforce the rules, and how. Council members at Tuesday’s work session eventually voted to send the pilot project to Thursday night’s council meeting for a first reading.

Under the proposal, food trucks would be allowed to set up in five zones that have metered parking spaces. Trucks could park there for two hours between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. As long as they are in line with other zoning regulations, the food trucks could operate downtown — or anywhere in Fayette County — between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m.

The trucks cannot be within 100 feet of the entrance to a business establishment during its regular hours of operation, or within 100 feet of a residential area.

Moments after the start of Tuesday’s meeting, some council members asked for some of the zones to be changed or eliminated. Councilman Steve Kay asked that South Limestone between Main and Vine be removed from the list because of limited on-street parking, and because it put the trucks too close to businesses, including several restaurants.

Kay said Bill Owen, president of the Lexington Center Corporation, had requested that food trucks be banned from an area around Rupp Arena because they would compete with food vendors inside the Lexington Center.

Chris Ford pointed out that all metered spaces on Elm Tree Lane between Corral and East 4th Street, near the Lyric Theatre, were within 100 feet of residential areas. He wanted that zone removed.

Harry Clark reminded fellow council members that the project was only a six-month pilot. “We have to have enough spaces to prove food trucks have viability,” he said. If zones are removed, “There would not be enough left to make any sense.”

Julian Beard said he did not see how food trucks on South Limestone would hurt downtown restaurant business. Besides, Beard added, competition is part of the American way of doing business.

Council eliminated Elm Street Lane as a zone, but added two blocks nearby on Corral Street between Spruce and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Another concern was who would enforce the two-hour parking limit — Lexington police or the Lexington Parking Authority, the agency responsible for the city’s parking meters.

James Frazier III, board member of the parking authority, said the agency would enforce parking until 5 p.m., and enforcement would be complaint driven. The parking authority wants some discretion in enforcing parking decisions because the food truck program is new and they aren’t sure how it will work.

The food truck project would be evaluated in October, Councilwoman Shevawn Akers said, using information such as the number of police citations issued, parking authority citations and the volume of business by food trucks.

Sean Tibbetts, director of the Bluegrass Food Truck Association, said earlier that many of the food truck operators are concerned that the ordinance is too restrictive for them to be able to operate.

“The longer the process has gone on, the more restrictive the process has gotten,” he said. The first food truck task force was set up two years ago.

The food truck association currently has about a dozen members, many of whom have more than one truck.

He said the ordinance would require the trucks to open for business immediately upon parking, but it takes 20 minutes for his griddle to even warm up. “We just don’t see how we can actually make it work,” he said.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/21/2648574/lexington-food-trucks-pilot-program.html

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – A plan to give people more food options in downtown Lexington has cleared another hurdle.

Tuesday, the Fayette Urban County Council approved the first reading of a food truck proposal.

This comes after the Lexington Parking Authority agreed to a plan to allow food trucks to operate on designated parking areas.

Right now, the trucks are only allowed on private property, and not on public streets.

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/Lexington-food-truck-proposal-moves-forward-208431211.html?ref=211#.UZy7O6JmiSo

Customers formed a long line to buy crepes at La Petite Creperie in August 2011 at the Lexington Farmers Market. Hardwood Pizza also was at the farmers market.
Photo by Angela Baldridge — Lexington Herald-Leader file photo

The Lexington Parking Authority board of commissioners voted Thursday to accept the proposed new city food truck ordinance, subject to several modifications.

Commissioner Wayne Masterman, who operates Portofino restaurant on East Main Street, cast the lone dissenting vote, arguing that the proposed ordinance involves “too many unknowns, and too many unknown consequences.”

The pilot proposal would allow food trucks to stop in metered public parking places in specified areas downtown and sell food to pedestrians between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. They could operate between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. in any on-street parking areas where it is otherwise legal to park, with certain restrictions.

The mobile units now can operate only on private property.

The parking board’s requested changes essentially would tighten up the proposal. One modification, for example, would limit food trucks to no more than half of the parking spaces in operating zones designated by the ordinance. Truck operators also would be required to use pay-by-phone to pay for the parking spaces they use. Commissioners said that would ensure that operators do pay rather than simply feeding the parking meter whenever they see an enforcement officer approach.

Urban County Councilwoman Shevawn Akers, who heads the working group that is drafting the food truck proposal, called the parking board’s suggestions “very reasonable.” They should pose no problems, she said.

The board’s other suggestions include removing South Mill Street from the list of areas where food trucks could operate; adding West Vine Street between South Upper and Mill streets to the list; and prohibiting trucks from offering tables and chairs for customers.

Other provisions already in the proposed ordinance would ban food trucks from operating within 100 feet of the main entrance of any business during its posted operated hours. They also would be prohibited in residential zones.

The proposed ordinance notes that mobile food vendors are increasingly popular and says food trucks could “contribute to a vibrant and diverse food experience in Lexington.”

However, Masterman said he still has questions. Generally speaking, Masterman said, expanding food truck operations would lead to an “uneven playing field” for brick-and-mortar restaurants downtown.

“I do feel that by allowing them to use the public streets we’re creating an unfair advantage,” he said after Thursday’s meeting. “There are a lot of regulations and burdens on restaurants, and I think that people who are in buildings have to pay a lot more money and attention to things that people in trucks don’t have to do.”

Masterman said he’d like to see the trucks continue to operate on private property.

Meanwhile, Akers contended that food trucks could become “incubators for small business.” Many successful food-truck operators eventually might choose to start their own brick-and-mortar restaurants, she said. Indeed, Akers said some have already started to do that.

The proposed ordinance can move forward now that it has the parking commissioners’ endorsement.

Akers said her plan is to bring up the proposal for first reading at next week’s council session, with passage possible in early June.

The proposed ordinance would authorize food trucks in designated public parking places for an initial six-month pilot period only. During that time, officials could evaluate how well the system worked and fix any kinks that developed. If the plan is approved in June, it apparently would be good through December.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/16/2642587/board-accepts-lexingtons-food.html

Working to alleviate hunger in the communities it serves, Fazoli's rolls out its second nationwide Breadsticks for Hunger Tour May 30.

A specially equipped food truck will visit 22 cities in nine states, including Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin. Fazoli’s is partnering with Feed the Children, a non-profit hunger-relief organization. Volunteers and truck staff will hand out free breadsticks, hot from the oven, and encourage the public to support Feed the Children.

Last year, Fazoli’s breadstick truck visited 15 cities, raising $50,000. This year’s tour includes the addition of franchised restaurants in Louisville, Ky. and Springfield, Mo.

The tour begins in Lexington, Ky. with a Feed the Children food distribution event. In addition to raising money and awareness for childhood hunger in the cities the truck will visit, participating Fazoli’s restaurants will sell a “Giving Grape” Lemon Ice. Feed the Children will receive $1 from Fazoli’s for every one sold.

The tour wraps up August 3 in Indianapolis, following a second food distribution there on July 30.

Following the inaugural tour, Feed the Children recognized Fazoli’s with its Community Excellence Award. Last year, the brand also raised $13,500 for the National Breast Cancer Foundation through the sale of a special Pink Lemon Ice.

Putting into practice the old adage that charity begins at home, Fazoli’s also helps its own employees through its Seeds of Compassion fund, which awards grants to associates needing financial assistance. The fund recently passed the $500,000 mark in grants. Fazoli’s manages the non-profit corporation, which is supported primarily by voluntary employee donations.

In recognition of its innovative workplace practices, Fazoli’s was recently honored by the University of Kentucky’s Institute for Workplace Innovation (iwin). The Dr Lee T. Todd Jr. Bridging the Gap Between Workplace Research and Practice Award, named after the retired President of UK, earns Fazoli’s a one-year grant to join 40 other Central Kentucky employers committed to advancing workforce development initiates throughout the Bluegrass.

Fazoli’s owns or franchises approximately 220 premium Italian quick-service restaurants nationwide.

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130508-916305.html

Sean Tibbetts, a non-voting member of the Food Truck Work Group, is director of the Blue Grass Food Truck Association.

After more than three months of meetings and discussions, the city’s Food Truck Work Group has agreed upon a Food Truck pilot program, according to 2nd District Council Member Shevawn Akers’ office.

Akers is the chair of the work group, which includes other council members, other city officials, and representatives from local food truck operators and brick and mortar restaurant owners. Vice Mayor Linda Gorton formed the work group in late January with the intent of creating a new Food Truck Ordinance.

Under the proposed pilot program – which must be presented as a resolution to the Urban County Council, following approval from the Lexington Parking Authority – food truck vendors will have access to designated on-street parking areas downtown within proposed food truck zones (see the accompanying map for the locations of proposed food truck zones).

The parking authority board will take up the matter on May 16, if the group approves of the proposed spaces, Akers said she will bring the resolution to council on May 23. Akers says if the parking authority board doesn’t approve of the proposed parking spots, the work group will likely propose on-street parking after 5 p.m. to the board.

a downtown map of the proposed food truck zones

Earlier this year the work group had success passing a partial ordinance streamlining the permitting process for food truck vendors, who are currently limited to operating on private property.

Voting and non-voting members comprised the Food Truck Work Group. Voting members include:

Shevawn Akers, 2nd District Council member

Bill Farmer, Jr., 5th District Council member

Kevin Stinnett, 6th District Council member

Under the proposed pilot program – which must be presented as a resolution to the Urban County Council, following approval from the Lexington Parking Authority – food truck vendors will have access to designated on-street parking areas downtown within proposed food truck zones (see the accompanying map for the locations of proposed food truck zones).

The parking authority board will take up the matter on May 16, if the group approves of the proposed spaces, Akers said she will bring the resolution to council on May 23. Akers says if the parking authority board doesn’t approve of the proposed parking spots, the work group will likely propose on-street parking after 5 p.m. to the board.

Earlier this year the work group had success passing a partial ordinance streamlining the permitting process for food truck vendors, who are currently limited to operating on private property.

Voting and non-voting members comprised the Food Truck Work Group. Voting members include:

Shevawn Akers, 2nd District Council member

Bill Farmer, Jr., 5th District Council member

Kevin Stinnett, 6th District Council member

http://southsidermagazine.com/2013/05/food-truck-work-group-agrees-on-pilot-program/

Sean Tibbetts, Bluegrass Food Truck Association and Cluckin Burger. April 2013 Food Truck Friday.

The two-year anniversary of the formation of Lexington’s Itinerant Merchant Task Force was April 20. While progress has been made, Lexington’s Food Trucks are not quite yet free.

Lexington Council Member Shevawn Akers, chair of Lexington’s Food Truck Work Group announced a Pilot Program just before Food Truck Friday, “The Food Truck Work Group has agreed upon a Food Truck pilot program. The Food Truck Work Group was formed in late January, with the purpose of crafting a new Food Truck Ordinance. The group has already been successful in passing a partial ordinance streamlining the permitting process for food truck vendors; however, they are currently limited to operating on private property. The group has since focused on crafting a resolution which would allow these vendors to operate on public streets. This pilot program will be presented as a resolution to the Urban County Council, following approval from the Lexington Parking Authority. The proposed program would allow food truck vendors access to designated parking areas downtown, in order to provide new and diverse food options to the citizens of Lexington.”

The first phase of Lexington’s food truck resolution was passed in February, and was followed by a Food Truck Friday at Cheapside Pavilion. The first phase:

• Eliminated the requirement and subsequent $15 fee for mobile food vendors to update the Division of Revenue with every address where they set up;
• Removed the requirement to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy from Building Inspection; and
• Required business owners to obtain a free Zoning Compliance Certificate valid for two years from the Division of Zoning and Planning to ensure retail food sales are permitted in their zone.

A sign parked outside a brick and mortar restaurant, across from the Food Truck Friday vendors.

A second Food Truck Friday was held in Cheapside Pavilion on Derby Eve, with most vendors again selling out within a couple hours (as the first one did). Food Truck Fridays are on the first Friday of each month at Cheapside Pavilion, and a portion of proceeds benefit God’s Pantry. Participating vendors have included Ogata’s Hawaiian, The Hub, Athenian Greek Grill, Cluckin Burger, J Renders, TNT BBQ, Bradford BBQ, the Snack Shack, and others. The trucks park on the corridor near the old Courthouse where vendors park during Farmers Market and Thursday Night Live, and they pay a fee to use the space.

Although crowds line up early and stay late for lunch, not everyone is a fan. A few brick and mortar establishments have been vocal in their opposition to food trucks, suggesting that mobile vendors cut into their dining dollar demographic, while paying less infrastructure freight. The long lines at the trucks are conducive to bystander chatter, and several customers who came down to the Pavilion from the nearby office towers pointed out that they are longtime patrons of downtown restaurants, while simultaneously supporting the diversity the trucks provide, and the elevation of downtown as a culinary hub.

Several customers wondered aloud if the new Pilot Program would mean Lexington’s streets will now be blooming with food trucks this summer? One young man who worked in the Fifth Third tower across the street commented on a banner he’d seen while he waited in line, “Free the Food Trucks…that’s funny… Aren’t they free yet?”

Not so fast.

Bluegrass Food Truck Association director Sean Tibbetts says, “While this resolution looks good on the surface it actually forces food truck operators to seek permission from every open business within 100 feet to operate, restricts us to an extremely limited number of parking spaces downtown with very little foot traffic and eliminates our ability to serve anywhere on public or private property within 100 feet of a residence without written permission from the Home Owners Association. Even if we manage to navigate this myriad of hurdles and actually operate, this is only a resolution and is set to expire in six months.”

Many of the vendors are optimistic that this summer will represent an improvement over last summer, but have strong reservations about the proposed resolution. Tibbetts says, “We hope that more trucks will be able to be out and serve various places and times around the county. Our fear is that we will see the same stagnation due to the introduction of many new hurdles to enable us to operate even on private property where we’re allowed to be now.” What would they like to see? “Our sincerest hope is that before this season ends food trucks will have been granted the same rights to use public and private property with appropriate regulations that focus on protecting public health and safety.”

After two years of task forces, and a flurry of activity this year, Tibbetts describes goals for next Summer that sound like the goals put forth by the mobile vendors in 2011. He says, “We would love to see Lexington’s leaders embrace our industry and encourage our participation in a progressive, vibrant and desirable city for the deserving consumers that are food truck fans and the innovative entrepreneurs that are food truck owners.”

Excerpts from the latest food truck draft proposal:

a) Mobile Food Unit Vendors shall not locate or operate on public or private property within one-hundred (100) feet of the property line of a dwelling unit located in an area zoned as a Residential District under the Lexington-Fayette County Zoning Ordinance, without the express written permission of the legally recognized Homeowner’s Association for the affected property. The above restriction does not apply to areas zoned for adaptive re-use.

b) Mobile Food Unit Vendors shall not locate or operate on public property or the public right-of-way within one-hundred (100) feet of the front door of any establishment while it is open for business, unless written approval is obtained from the business owner or the vendor is operating as part of a Special Event.

c) Mobile Food Unit Vendors may operate between the hours of 7am and 10pm in metered spaces in the following On-Street Food Vending Zones:

1. Limestone between Vine & Main
2. Mill between Vine & Main
3. Vine between Broadway & Upper

6.4. East High between MLK & Limestone

1. Elm Tree Lane between Corral & 4th
2. West Main between Jefferson & Felix
3. West High between Upper & Mill

http://www.aceweekly.com/2013/05/lexington-food-truck-pilot-program-proposed/

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – A proposal has been made to make it easier for food trucks to operate in Lexington.

Second District Councilmember Shevawn Akers says the Food Truck Work Group has agreed on a pilot program for food trucks.

Under the proposal, food trucks would be allowed to operate on designated parking areas downtown.

Right now, the trucks are only allowed on private property, and not on public streets in Lexington.

Akers says if the Lexington Parking Authority approves the proposal, it will be presented to the Urban County Council.

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/205909781.html

Credit Calgary Reviews/Creative Commons

Work continues to try and determine where Lexington mobile food vendors can set up shop downtown.

Members of the Food Truck Work Group reviewed draft recommendations Thursday at city hall.  Work Group chair Shevawn Akers, a Lexington Council member, says many restaurants and mobile food operators still disagree about placement on public streets.

“The restaurants prefer to have a designated area for food trucks,” Akers said. ” They suggested it could be point of branding for the city and people would know where to find the food trucks and that kind of thing.  Sounds like a good idea.  The food trucks do not think it’s a good idea.”

Akers hopes to have a final report put before work group members a week from now.  The overall goal is to have food truck recommendations before council members on Feb. 19.

Akers says there appears to be general agreement by food truck operators and restaurant representatives on permitting procedures.  She says many food truck operators believe they should be allowed to park near existing eating establishments.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that a food truck should not set up in front of another restaurant, an existing restaurant.  They disagree,” she said.

http://www.wfpl.org/post/lexington-debates-where-food-trucks-can-set-shop

After a meeting Thursday of a work group set up to streamline the permitting and licensing of mobile food trucks, Sean Tibbetts, director of the Blue Grass Food Truck Association, said he was encouraged by the proposed changes.

“We got all of our questions clarified this morning,” he said. “We are really encouraged. This is leaps and bounds from where we were.”

Tibbetts referred to an Itinerant Merchant Task Force that met for two years without dealing with issues facing mobile food vendors, a growing segment of the food industry.

The newly organized work group included food truck owners, Urban County Council members and other city officials.

A few of the proposals include:

•l; License food trucks individually instead of requiring a new license each time a truck moves to a different location.

 Provide a food truck parking permit that would be good for two years.

  Select a downtown spot designated for food trucks so customers could find mobile food vendors, morning or night.

 Have Food Truck Tuesday when mobile food vendors could set up throughout downtown. Each location would be designated by specially designed signs set on top of a parking meter.

 Let mobile vendors use metered parking spaces after 5 p.m. weekdays and any time on weekends.

Anthony Rios, owner of Dogs for Cats, asked whether the city’s zoning regulations could be amended to allow food trucks in industrial-zoned areas, so trucks could sell to factory workers. Councilwoman Shevawn Akers, chairwoman of the group, said she would check into it.

Akers also said she had talked to Dr. Rice Leach, commissioner of health, about the health department requirement that each time a food truck moves locations the owner has to go to the health department, in person, for a new permit. “He thinks emailing is a sound idea, but I can’t write that into our legislation. The health department has to do that,” Akers said.

Gene Williams, owner of Natasha’s restaurant, applauded the idea of a Food Truck Tuesday, calling it “a forward thinking idea — not contentious and polarizing.” Williams said he would be glad to have a food truck park in front of his restaurant on the Esplanade for such an event.

Two changes that pleased Tibbetts was allowing a food truck to have an annual parking permit instead of requiring a new parking permit each time the truck moves to a different location.

Also, Tibbetts said he supported the proposal to let food trucks park in metered parking spaces after 5 p.m. weekdays. “That is huge for us. We would rather get some opportunity to be on public property instead of no opportunity,” he said following the meeting.

Tibbetts was cautious in his support of a designated zone for food trucks: “That forces more restrictions on us than we would like.” A compromise would be if the zone were in a well-trafficked area like the Fifth Third Bank Pavilion in Cheapside Park, he said.

After the meeting, Akers said there was more agreement among work group members and less contention than she had expected.

The councilwoman will incorporate changes recommended by the work group and bring the amended ordinance back for their approval. A second meeting is set for 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the fifth floor conference room of the Government Center.

Akers wants to submit the food truck ordinance to the council’s economic development committee on Feb. 19.

LEXINGTON, KY (WKYT) — Food truck supporters and detractors alike met today for a contentious meeting to discuss the future of the mobile meal trucks in Lexington’s public places.

At the moment, food trucks — self-contained small restaurants that often park outside bars and businesses to serve portable meals to diners on the go — are allowed to operate on private property.

Last year, a work group in favor of food trucks proposed that the trucks be allowed to operate on public property. Many downtown restaurants voiced concern about the idea, citing fears that allowing trucks to set up nearby would hurt their businesses — a dire prospect, since they claim that Lexington is already over-saturated with restaurants.

Last year, the city shot down the idea altogether, but since then, Vice Mayor Linda Gorton formed a task force to take a closer look at the issue.

Today, that task force met to review a “drafted ordinance” that proposes initial rules and regulations for the operation of food trucks. Many were on hand, including health department officials, food truck owners and employees, city leaders, law enforcement officials, and someone representing the area’s restaurants.

Food truck advocates seemed cheered by the council’s willingness to at least hear the issue. One food truck owner was optimistic. “The council has made great progress from where we were a year ago to where we are now,” said Jason Cullen. “It’s leaps and bounds.”

The representative of some of the downtown restaurants was not quite as enthusiastic about the prospect. “Restaurants want to participate in the food truck industry; they want to grow with it,” said Gene Williams. “The way we do this and the way we integrate a new aspect of our industry, we have to be careful… We don’t want to jeopardize our existing efforts in creating an independent, interesting downtown for restaurants.”

Officials said the next meeting will be held on February 14th.

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/City-council-holds-meeting-to-determine-future-of-food-trucks-190234181.html?ref=181