Fairfield council approves food truck ordinance

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield City Council approved the third and final reading of an ordinance pertaining to food trucks during its meeting Monday night.

The ordinance is designed to streamline the application process for food truck vendors who wish to set up on public property. The ordinance specifies where food trucks can be: around the square and along West Briggs Avenue between Petra Park and the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

The food vendors would need a city permit and state licenses to operate in that area, but there wouldn’t be any rules limiting the number of days a food truck could operate.

The council approved the ordinance on a 6-0 vote, with council members Michael Halley, Katy Anderson, Tom Twohill, Judy Ham, Paul Gandy and Doug Flournoy voting in favor. Council member Martha Rasmussen was absent.

Halley said he posted about this proposed ordinance on the city’s Facebook page, and that it received a “predominantly positive response.” He said people perceived the ordinance as allowing food trucks on public property for the first time. In fact, the city has allowed food trucks to operate on public property before, but with stricter rules. At an earlier meeting, Halley noted that Mike and Nikki Papazoglou operated their food truck Rollin’ Cravings on city property, but they were limited to doing so one day per week.

The new rules do not limit how many days a food truck can be on public property, provided the business purchases a monthly permit. Halley also noted that the ordinance applies only to food trucks on public property, and not those operating on private property. Food trucks operating on private property must still obtain a peddler’s permit.

The council also passed the first reading of an ordinance Monday dealing with the peddler’s permit. The proposed changes would update the requirements on the criminal background check and the food safety certificates vendors need.