CHANDLER

Food trucks return to Chandler? Maybe

Weekly event organizer says changes would prevent similar food-truck gatherings

Chris Coppola
The Republic | azcentral.com
Tayler Perez samples kettle corn at the Sonoran Kelle Corn truck at Chandler's Food Truck Friday event on Friday, July 17, 2015.
  • Restaurants raised concerns about competition from food trucks

Chandler's City Council has given the initial OK to new rules that would make it cheaper and easier for food trucks to operate in the city while imposing strict limits on the frequency and location of events.

The proposed changes, which still face a final council vote, come after several months of hearings and meetings between city officials and stakeholders that sought to strike a balance between food-truck fans and the brick-and-mortar restaurants concerned about the trucks diverting customers from their businesses.

The portion of proposed changes that eliminate certain fees and requirements for food-truck businesses stirred little controversy.

But far more difficult was developing rules governing where the trucks can operate, how long they can stay and how frequently they can show up at the same location. Those issues were at the heart of concerns by restaurant owners and commercial-property owners who lease space to restaurants.

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Under the proposed rules, food trucks would be allowed to set up for church or school events, but if the event is intended to draw the general public, they would need a special-use permit from the city. Trucks could set up at a shopping center to celebrate something like a grand opening as long as the property owner agrees. However, they would not be allowed to have regular weekly events in the same location.

Regular weekly food-truck events could be held on city property, such as a park, with a special-event permit if the city determines the use is appropriate and does not interfere with any other activity. A regular food-truck event on private property could be held monthly and on no more than four consecutive days with a special permit, but not weekly.

Regular food-truck events would not be allowed in the downtown area, except as part of a larger special event.

The changes will effectively eliminate any chance of holding a weekly food-truck event similar to one that was held for several months in the Ocotillo area of south Chandler earlier this year, said Brian Denham, who organized that event, which was held in a commercial parking lot.

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The Friday events, which started in the spring and lasted until mid-summer, drew large crowds and a dozen or more trucks, even on hot summer evenings, demonstrating the popularity of food trucks. It ended when the special-event permit the city granted expired.

"It shut the door completely,'' Denham said, suggesting that concerns from brick-and-mortar restaurants led to changes that will make it too difficult to have a regular weekly event. Denham indicated that a city park might work occasionally, but it would prove too difficult to gain city permission on a weekly basis.

"There’s a community here that loved this event. Grandparents, parents and kids, sitting around, enjoying the music, enjoying the food. It was great for Chandler. That's what's sad. .... Chalk it up to politics or whatever.''

Several prominent business owners in Chandler raised concerns about allowing the trucks to have unrestricted operating locations, days and times, suggesting they could hurt restaurants that do business in Chandler. Among those who expressed that worry in interviews with TheRepublic recently were Michael Pollack, a commercial-property owner who owns numerous shopping centers in the city, and Ric Serrano, whose family operates six Serrano's Mexican Restaurants in the East Valley, including the original location in downtown Chandler.

Several City Council members also had directed staff to make sure they met with restaurant owners and addressed their concerns.

"Here in Chandler, it became a regular weekly event,'' Pollack said, referring to the Ocotillo event. "I received e-mails from restaurants in the Chandler area saying wait, time-out, we have some rights, too.''

The proposed change would reduce the number of requirements that food-truck operators must meet to do business in Chandler and reduce the overall permitting and related costs from $590 to $160.

A  final vote is expected in December, and the new rules are expected to take effect in early January.