Augusta’s latest revision to its food truck ordinance is a decal.
The blue Georgia-shaped decal will provide easy identification of food trucks meeting the other requirements to operate: A business license, health department inspection and fire inspection, Planning Director Carla DeLaney told Augusta commissioners Tuesday.
The revision came about after a food truck operator complained to the commission about being ordered off the Broad Street spot he’d occupied for some time. Bricks-and-mortar restaurants have also complained to commissioners and law enforcement about the trucks competing with them for customers or blocking patron access.
Sent to suggest revisions for the 2012 ordinance, DeLaney came back with the decal requirement.
“When we looked across different jurisdictions, our food truck ordinance is comparable,” she said. “Our biggest concern was really identifying the number of people or trucks that are licensed to be there.”
Commissioner Jordan Johnson voiced concerns about restaurants being allowed to police food trucks.
“I fear that leaving it up to the property owner itself could lead to some exclusion,” Johnson said. “A lot of that activity is adding to the culture of downtown. Do we want to eliminate that?”
Commissioner Francine Scott said Augusta needs “to be more welcoming of new ideas” such as food trucks.
DeLaney said regulation is needed both for food safety and public safety, to avoid the trucks creating hazards.
Food trucks are already not allowed on city sidewalks or rights-of-way, which includes all sidewalk and median space on Broad Street, she said.
A property owner can’t give permission to set up in front of a building “because they don’t own that land,” DeLaney said.
“The sheriff’s department is actively going in and shutting these people down in the right of ways and in the sidewalks,” she said.
In addition, food trucks aren’t exempt from the license and inspection requirements when they set up on private property.
Enforcing the ordinance are Planning and Development’s business licensing, business license compliance and codes enforcement divisions, with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office providing after-hours enforcement, she said.
Commissioner Brandon Garrett suggested the city create a designated food truck area, such as the Augusta Common. Currently, trucks that wish to use the common go through Augusta Parks and Recreation, DeLaney said.
The proposed entertainment district will be the best solution to address all manner of special activities downtown, she said.
“We’re trying to force something into a district that does not exist,” she said.
The city Public Services committee approved the decal amendment, asking DeLaney to return with plans for the entertainment district within 90 days.
But the entertainment district will take much longer than 90 days, DeLaney said.
As part of the proposed revision of Augusta’s comprehensive zoning ordinance, the work is unlikely to start until the spring, after procurement of a vendor to write the new ordinance, she said.
Read Augusta’s food truck ordinance:
