More rules for food trucks in Moorpark? Not so fast

Moorpark loves its food trucks, but the City Council wants to be ready if problems arise.

Because of the upcoming High Street Depot and other developments downtown, the council in October asked staff to prepare a workshop on food trucks and the possible need for further regulations to address issues such as parking.

But when the workshop took place Jan. 17, owners of brick-and-mortar businesses joined residents in asking the city not to pile on extra rules on food trucks. They praised the trucks for bringing customers to Moorpark.

The council agreed, and no new ordinances were proposed, although the door was left open should parking become an issue.

“I’m a big believer in that if there’s not an actual problem, let’s not overregulate,” said Jeff Brodsly, a property owner who’s building High Sweet Creamery with Danny Margolis, owner of M on High Restaurant.

Unless an ice cream truck parks across the street from High Sweet Creamery, Brodsly told the council, he isn't concerned.

When Doug Spondello, the Moorpark deputy community development director, worked as a planner for the city of Oxnard, he saw restaurants complain about food trucks competing with them in the early 2010s.

"It was a very different city. That was one of the reasons I was so pleasantly taken aback by the comments at the Moorpark council meeting," Spondello said during an interview Friday. "There is a synergy among the food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants."

Angel Baker, co-owner of Angry Ferret Brewery, told council members that food trucks, which operate by his pub on Hertz Street, draw visitors to Moorpark.

One visitor is Renee Zelnick, a Simi Valley resident who told the council she and her husband, Michael Zelnick, drive regularly to Moorpark to buy food from a truck on High Street and explore the downtown area.

Lupe Aguilera, owner of Old Town Liquor, said she allows access to her restrooms so the Mariscos Pericos truck can sell Mexican food throughout afternoons and early evenings on High Street in front of her store.

Under a Ventura County Environmental Health Division requirement, a food truck may be parked longer than an hour only if its employees have access to a restroom within 200 feet, said Carlene Saxton, the Moorpark community development director.

“We have been very supportive of the food truck," Aguilera said. "It's part of working together to support businesses."

She questioned the need for concern about food trucks because only two — Mariscos Pericos and Chanos Tacos — operate on High Street. “It’s not like we have a lot."

Other food trucks have included Taqueria El 14, which has parked east of the 76 gas station on Princeton Avenue.

Participants in the workshop discussed parking as a possible concern for the future.

"We tend to view the parking on High Street and public lots almost as a shopping center," Spondello, the deputy community development director, said. "We have a limited resource, and we need to ensure it serves the community and businesses."

Although the High Street Depot will have on-site parking for tenants of its 79 apartments, stores and restaurants in the mixed-use development will rely on streets and city lots for parking, Spondello said.

If parking becomes an issue, the council could look at options such as building a parking structure, City Manager Troy Brown said during the workshop.

Under rules Moorpark adopted in 2007, food trucks are allowed to operate between 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, but can't be within a quarter-mile of a school or park between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. when school is in session, said Saxton, the community development director. Trucks can't be within 500 feet of a special event or farmers market, but temporary use permits allow food trucks at city-sponsored events.

Dave Mason covers East County for the Ventura County Star. He can be reached at dave.mason@vcstar.com or 805-437-0232.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Moorpark businesses, residents ask city to limit food truck rules