City council to Enforce Food truck Permits

Meridian city council is looking to level the ground between brick-and-mortar restaurants and food trucks by enforcing permits.

The city council is still in the process of figuring out how to enforce ordinances for food trucks in Meridian.

The issue was brought up in a work session last week. Ward 2 Councilman Dwayne Davis tells Twin States News where the city is in the process:

“What we are doing now is working with community development, Mr. Hitt, and trying to get some plans together to do the right thing by the citizens of Meridian who want to do the food truck or the food truck cart.”

The Little Griddle in the town of Marion has had its permits for more than 10 years now. Owner Wanda Peterson says they wanted to do it the right way from the beginning:

“Well, we got permitted from the very beginning because we got checked by the health department. We wanted to be legal, to be able to travel to different cities and set up. There are some festivals you go to who check, and if you don’t have everything, you’re supposed to have they will tell you to leave.”

For years now, the city has not imposed a fee for food trucks to set up throughout the city. Councilman Davis says he is all for small businesses, but also wants to follow the regulations of the city:

“We have had a lot of events around here, where food trucks are permitted to be in the city for special events. We have a couple of people that want to do this as a business. At the same time, the reason why we want to do the city ordinance and make sure that everybody is abiding by the law; is that we don’t want anyone sitting up next to anyone else’s restaurant who is trying to make money also and disturb their flow of income. So, that’s the reason why the city council is stepping back to review the city ordinance.”

Twin States News will be following the story and will update you once the council has made a decision.