UPDATED RULES ARE IN THE PLANNING STAGE
There have been questions about food trucks operating in the parks or on city property in Platte City.
Some clarification is on the way on the topic of commercial usage of city parks, and more specifically, a set of regulations for food trucks that want to operate in city parks or on city property outside of a special event.
Current city code prohibits the commercial use of city parks without permission “by the park and recreation board or the parks and recreation director.”
The city has plans to clean up the language to establish a better, clearer written policy.
“There is a new food truck asking to operate out of the Harrel Ferrel Park parking lot. I asked the staff how we had handled approving food trucks wanting to operate in city parks in the past and there was not a clear answer,” says Bryan Richison, who has been city administrator for Platte City only a matter of months.
“There is a food truck that sporadically sets up in Harrel Ferrel, but no one is sure how or if they were approved. I checked the city code and it specifies commercial uses in parks or on city property should be approved by the park and recreation board, which is the wrong title, or the park and recreation director, a position that doesn’t currently exist,” Richison said.
“I’d like to clean this up by updating the code to use the correct committee title (Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee) and remove the staff position so there is one, clear approver,” he added.
The proposed code amendment would clarify this section of city code, he said.
“Having both a board and a staff position empowered to give approval creates confusion about who should have authority to make the decision,” Richison explained.
“To address these issues, the reference to the parks and recreation director is being removed,” he said.
Notably, the city is getting more specific when it comes to having a set of rules and regulations for food trucks that want to operate in city parks or on city property.
For months, perhaps years, food trucks have occasionally been setting up in the parking lot of Harrel Ferrel Park (the ballfields near Fourth and Hwy. 92).
“It is not clear what food trucks may or may not have been given verbal permission in the past,” Richison said. “The city code requires written permission and there is no record that occurred,” the city administrator noted.
So a proposed set of regulations is being developed for food trucks that want to operate in city parks or on city property outside of a festival or special event. To receive approval, the regulations require a basic set of information be submitted to the city, including a city business license and a Platte County Health Department mobile food unit permit.
The submitted information can be reviewed by the city’s park and recreation advisory committee for approval.
In addition to the city business license and the health department permit, those food trucks requesting permission to operate on city property must also provide the name of their business or food truck, a brief description of what kind of food is intended to be served, a list of which city parks or city property they are seeking to operate in, and a description of which days of the week and what hours each day the food truck would like to operate.
“If approved, the food trucks may only operate during the hours the parks are open (dawn to dusk),” Richison said.
The park and recreation advisory committee would reserve the right to revoke its permission at any time at its discretion.
“These (proposed) regulations do not apply to any food truck operating as part of an event that has an approved special event permit from the city,” Richison explained.
The topic is expected to be discussed at the city’s parks advisory committee meeting next month, and could be advanced to the full board of aldermen at its January meeting.
