JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – Food trucks were the topic of discussion at Tuesday night's city council meeting in Jacksonville Beach. The city council discussed a proposal that would allow and regulate food trucks at the beach.
Food Truck vendors and Jacksonville Beach business owners sounded off at the city council meeting.
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The group was waiting to hear Jacksonville Beach's proposal on how both restaurants and food trucks can fairly compete for business.
If allowed, food trucks would have to stay 100 feet from an eat establishment and can only operate on a privately owned lot that is permitted. Food trucks will not be allowed on public property.
The Jacksonville planning director proposed other rules for food trucks to follow, like, paying a $79 fee every time the truck changes locations.
Business owners in the audience shared their concerns with the new proposal. Owner of Angie Subs on Beach Boulevard, Ed Malin said he thinks the proposal puts restaurants at an unfair advantage. Malin said business owners pay higher operating fees and property tax and city fees, expenses that food trucks don't have to worry about.
"I am all for food trucks, what I am against is the way the ordinance is written that gives them special breaks that regular brick and mortar businesses do not have. That's not a fair playing field," said Malin.
One effort to address what some are calling an unfair advantage is having vendors pay a $25 nominal fee yearly, just like any business in Jacksonville Beach already pays.
Chris Dickerson attended Tuesday's meeting. He operates a food truck in Jacksonville called Corner Taco. Dickerson told the council Tuesday that food trucks have operating costs just like any restaurant and they should be allowed to compete in the market.
"We are a small restaurant, the things we do are on a smaller scale, but many of us ultimately want to run our own restaurant. What better way to do it than to own a food truck," said Dickerson.
Another idea that was proposed Tuesday night would be to give food trucks a 90-day grace period to see how the trucks would operate in Jacksonville Beach.
Next, the city manager will research some of the proposals brought up in Tuesday's meeting. Then, the proposals will go back before the council. However, there is no set date for that to happen at this time.