Aldermen Adjusting Food Truck Ordinance

Livingston Aldermen are going back to the drawing board to clarify the logistics of the city’s food truck ordinance.

The city passed an ordinance earlier this year. City Attorney Andre Greppin spoke to the board Monday night about an ordinance to determine the exact details of the different food truck permits and regulations. Alderman Arno Proctor requested that the board amend the ordinance so food trucks would be permitted to use the electrical boxes installed at Central Park.

“We put in special boxes for food trucks there,” Proctor said. “So they wouldn’t have to worry about generators running during the concerts ’cause a lot of people sit by that pavilion back there on it. And we spent a lot of money doing that.”

Alderman David Langford said the permit costs proposed for the ordinance would be too high for any potential food trucks to survive in the city.

“They have to pay income tax, they have to buy a business permit for the city, they have to buy a business permit for the county,” Langford said. “Why should they have to buy a (food truck) permit?”

The aldermen approved the ordinance on first reading and agreed to discuss the possibility of changing the numbers before it is made official. Greppin said they could make minor adjustments to the ordinance during its second reading next month as long as the character of the ordinance is fundamentally unchanged.

“So for instance, on second reading, if the council studies it and decides that four hundred dollars is too much for a year and wants to change that, you can make that change on second reading and pass it subject to that amendment,” Greppin said.

Major changes would require additional readings on the ordinance.