Most issues at city hall are tied to communications problems.
The recommendation that City Council approved, per video from the meeting, on March 26 was:
“The City Council refer the issue of regulation and permitting of mobile vending providers (food trucks) to the Planning Board for consideration and recommendation of an ordinance similar to St. Petersburg’s regulation.”
The recommendation that City Planner Brandi Deese gave the Planning Board in a memo dated April 2 (PB Agenda Food Trucks 4-14-15) was:
“Planning staff recommends that the Planning Board provide a recommendation to City Council on regulations relating to Mobile Food Vending.”
Deese gave them Bare’s outline of a draft ordinance and wrote the board had the following options:
1) Recommendation of an ordinance similar to that of St. Petersburg,
2) Recommendation of the ordinance proposed in the Pilot Program, or
3) Recommendation to not regulate this use at this time.
The Planning Board instead chose to draft an ordinance different from the St. Petersburg and Pilot Program ordinances.
Its proposed ordinance will still be debated and probably modified by the city council based on the council’s discussion at its March 26 meeting.
The questions are: Did the four months of the Planning Board discussing and drafting its food truck ordinance accomplish what the city council wanted? Did it move the issue closer to a conclusion?