Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Brown has planned the formation a committee comprised of local residents to work on his proposed food truck legislation. Brown held a informational meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss his proposal to regulate food trucks and hear from the public.
Brown said he was surprised by the strong negative feedback to his draft ordinance saying it was never the intention to drive legitimate food truck operations out of business. He said the bill is in it’s early stages and he set up the meeting to get feedback from food truck and brick and mortar restaurant owners.
Brown said several issues revolving around food trucks need to be clarified.
"We started this meeting out without a good definition, a working definition of what constitutes a food truck and so until we do that, and that's the city's responsibility," he said.
"I know the state has already done it, but the city we do not have a city ordinance that identifies what a food truck is and so it's our responsibility to make sure that not only do we have federal and state regulations but you need city regulations as well."
Chriss Brown runs a commissary that serves several food trucks in Jacksonville. She said the current draft has many flaws that need to be corrected before it’s introduced to council.
Chriss Brown also said if meetings and committees were organized before the draft was written it would of saved a lot of grief.
"I'm a little shocked and surprised at the lack of knowledge," she said. "Usually if I'm going to go in to an area that is not of my expertise I try to educate myself as much as I can. Especially before writing an ordinance. So I would have to say I'm pretty disappointed in this."
Councilman Brown said he had previously thought it was a mistake not to post the meeting prior to drafting legislation but now believes doing so would have garnered far less attention.
He expects the revised draft to be completed in less than three months.
Executive director of Downtown Vision Inc. Terry Lorince, and a representative from Jacksonville-based Super Food Truck will appear on First Coast Connect today (2/27) to discuss the legislation and Jacksonville's food truck scene.
You can follow Kevin Meerschaert on Twitter @KMeerschaertJax.
