Cedar Park City Council voted unanimously June 25 to approve changes to the city’s food truck regulations that city staff said are necessary in order to comply with a new state law.
The context
As of July 1, the operators of food trucks, referred to in government documents as mobile food establishments or MFEs, no longer need permits from cities or counties. Instead, a single statewide permit process has replaced the mix of local regulations previously in effect.
House Bill 2844, also known as the Mobile Food Vendor Regulatory Consistency Act, aims to streamline permitting and reduce regulatory inconsistencies across different jurisdictions by shifting regulatory powers from the local level to the state, according to state legislators.
What’s new
Several of the changes removed parts of the current city code of ordinances that conflicted with the new state law, according to city staff.
"The amendments that we're proposing [are] not a change of policy but more shifting where some of our regulations are so that we are able to continue to apply these standards and, again, bring our code consistent with state law requirements," Assistant Director of Development Services Andreina Davila-Quintero told the Cedar Park Planning & Zoning Commission in May.
City changes also outline new location requirements for food trucks, including:
- MFEs may not park or operate on roadways classified as major collectors or higher
- MFEs may not encroach on landscape strips, medians, landscape buffers and easements, building setbacks, required parking spaces, driveways or fire lanes
- MFEs may only operate as an accessory to a property designated with a different primary use
- MFEs must display their state license and fire inspection
- MFEs may not operate drive-thru services
Davila-Quintero said city staff used this opportunity to try to clean up some other aspects of the city's code concerning food establishments. Because the city defers to the Williamson County and Cities Health District for all other food establishment permits, she said language in the ordinances has been changed to refer only to the Health District's fee schedule, and not the city's.
