ANNA MARIA – City officials have begun working on a new city ordinance that would specify where food trucks are allowed to operate within the city limits.
The yet-to-be-drafted ordinance is also expected to specify how many food trucks are allowed to operate in the designated food truck area at a time.
Mayor Dan Murphy initiated the discussion during the commission’s July 28 meeting. Once adopted, the city ordinance will serve as the city’s response to a state law the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis enacted in 2020.
Referred to by some as the “Food Truck Freedom Legislation,” the state law bars local governments from prohibiting food truck operations within a local jurisdiction. The state law also bars local governments from requiring a local license, registration or permit for those operations.
“The state of Florida passed a law that stipulates that cities cannot regulate food trucks. They could, in essence, park right outside of a restaurant in the right of way and sell pizzas, tacos, ice cream or whatever,” Murphy told the commission.
The mayor said he asked City Attorney Becky Vose to research the city’s regulatory options.
Vose said the city can’t prohibit food trucks citywide or require a city-issued permit, but can regulate in a reasonable manner where they conduct their business.
Commissioner Robert Kingan asked Vose if the state law specifies how many food trucks must be allowed to operate at a given time, or how large the designated area must be.
“It’s not a number, it’s an area where they can be located,” Vose said.
Vose said no case law has been established yet regarding cities’ ability to respond to the state law, and Murphy said the city would likely be “on the bleeding edge” of the local regulatory efforts.
Vose said the city can specify where food truck operations are allowed, but she doesn’t think a single food truck parking space would satisfy the state law.
Kingan asked if the Roser Memorial Community Church parking lot on Pine Avenue could serve as a designated food truck area. Vose said the designated area could be located on private or public property, depending on how the city ordinance is written.
Murphy asked the commissioners to initially focus more on where the food truck area or areas would be located and less on the number of trucks allowed.
“The location is going to be the ticklish part and I really need your input,” Murphy said when noting there will likely be many differing opinions on the commission and in the community.
Murphy said he hopes he and the commissioners receive additional input from city residents during their individual conversations with city officials, during a future city meeting or by email. The mayor and commissioners’ email addresses can be found on the city website, www.cityofannamaria.com.
“We need to find a nice, reasonable place where this could work,” Murphy said.
Commissioner Jon Crane said he doesn’t want the food trucks located anywhere along Pine Avenue.
Commissioner Mark Short said he doesn’t want food trucks doing business in the city’s residential areas.
Commissioner Deanie Sebring suggested using the vacant lot used to store gravel and other materials near the entrance to the city. Murphy said that property is privately owned and is not controlled by the city.
City resident David Haddox suggested also allowing food trucks on Pine Avenue during special events.
Kingan suggested using a portion of the Bayfront Park parking lot along North Bay Boulevard as the city’s designated food truck area – and it was later noted that a portion of that city-owned parking lot is located across the street from vacation rental homes rather than permanent residences.
“Somewhere over there might be the best place. It’s a minefield trying to figure out a place that everybody’s going to be happy with,” Kingan said.
“We’ve got to do something. The whole city is fair game until we do something. If we make a mistake, we can always correct a mistake,” Murphy said.
The food truck discussion is expected to continue at the commission’s Thursday, Aug. 11 meeting which starts at 2 p.m.
