Food truck approvals on the back burner
Jan. 27—OXFORD — There has been a major influx of mobile food trucks in the city recently, even one that specializes in seafood.
Mayor Alton Craft says it is time to slow the wagons and take a closer look at the phenomenon of these popular portable food prep places.
He mentioned the subject during the city council's work session Tuesday night, and the discussion ended with council members agreeing to a temporary halt in licensing food truck vendors.
"This is just temporary," Craft said. "We started last week with 13 and now we have 25. I don't know what's going on, but we need to understand it."
Craft said such growth in the number of food trucks demands a study of where they are setting up shop and traffic situations "to make sure they are not causing congestion."
He said the ones that currently have licenses and those currently in the process of getting or renewing a license will remain as is "until we get a handle on what's going on."
"I'm tickled to death [to have more businesses in town], but that's a lot of mobile people coming in all of a sudden," Craft said.
The mayor said the city has had to bring some of the vendors in court concerning non-compliance and "they didn't like what the fire department was doing" when it enforced safety codes.
The moratorium will remain in effect until further notice from the city.
Staff Writer Brian Graves: 256-236-1551.
