Rockford Sun

At the April 3 Belvidere City Council meeting, members discussed the business of food truck vendors in the city. 

They were presented with an ordinance that would amend a chapter of the city code that would create a license and permitting fee process. At the beginning of the discussion on the ordinance, Alderman Daniel Snow made a motion to amend the ordinance and reduce the $500 fee amount down to $100. 

Gina DelRose, the planning director, told council the $500 fee was determined by figuring out the average fee charged by surrounding municipalities. She said the costs are also to cover the work from various city departments that go into giving a truck its permit, such as inspections and administrative time

"I have food truck vendors that come in wanting to park and block driveways and let people park on the the middle of the street to walk up to," DelRose said. "So I'm constantly talking to people. 'No, that's not allowed. No, that's not a good idea. That's going to create a traffic issue.' I have those conversations quite regularly."

Technically, there is nothing in the city code to prohibit food trucks from blocking traffic, she said.

"So if they want to really push the matter, there's nothing regulating that so far," said DelRose. "I got through just talking to them ... to see reason. There's also several food trucks in town right now that are parking in a lot that don't have the property owners' permission to be there. And then I am dealing with the property owner upset because there is a food truck parking on their property that they never gave them permission for. And if someone gets sick or injured or what have you, there's the liability of the property owner because that's on their property. So they're quite upset." 

Council members shared concerns about the fee, saying that food truck vendors would be deterred by the higher cost of doing business in Belvidere and would not choose to operate in the city anymore, which would drastically change the feel of several outdoor events and areas of the city. The city attorney explained that any food trucks operating with a license from another city governing body would be exempt from all but the city inspection. Permit purchases are for those operating within the city outside of any sponsored events.

 Other aldermen were not worried about the $500 fee as it was still significantly less than any fees paid for by brick-and-mortar businesses, and averaged out to about $1.37 a day to operate a truck. The other costs for food trucks include a permit from the health department, who offers single event or year-long permits. 

The code would also create regulations for food trucks, requiring them to receive permission from property owners to park and operate, not blocking public streets or right of ways, and other issues that the city is currently struggling with and have no way of enforcing without the permit. While the original amendment failed to pass, the city did create an alternate permit for block parties and events at a $100 rate instead of the full price, and then approved the ordinance to amend the city code around food trucks.