
File photo by Jeremy Lange
Customers wait for their orders at the Grilled Cheese Bus at an April FoodTruck Roundup at Rebus Works in Boylan Heights of Raleigh.
He first petitioned the council for new food truck rules last fall and has been pitching the idea to everyone who will listen ever since, often with a free slice of his Detroit-style pie. He promotes food trucks as small business incubators that can add culture to the city.
“I'm very disappointed; I'm caught off guard by it,” Stenke said after the vote, adding that he expected to be giving a far different interview.
“It really seemed like this was a great rule for restaurants, a great rule for consumers and it was an OK rule for food truck owners, but at least it was a small opening.”
Key among the concerns from council members were the distance from current restaurants, emissions from truck generators, enforcement, impact on travel lanes and possible late-night shenanigans.
“I can see this being a real problem, specifically in my district,” said Councilman Thomas Crowder, who doesn't want trucks doing business past 10 p.m. “We have children trying to go to school. I can see some real issues there.”
Crowder also wants to ensure rules prevent food truck rodeos, popular events in Durham and in Carrboro where several trucks combine to form a food court of sorts.
“I have quite a few concerns for this, to be honest,” he said.
Councilwoman Mary-Ann Baldwin also wanted to make sure that rules don't restrict food trucks from operating in the few spaces where they have been working, specifically at Big Boss and Boylan Heights breweries.
“We don't want to give something and then take something away,” she said.
“Obviously we are a long way from where we thought we might have been,” Councilman John Odom concluded.
Raleigh's Law and Public Safety Committee will consider food trucks at it's next meeting, slated for 9 a.m. Tuesday in Room 305 of the Avery C. Upchurch Government complex at 222 W. Hargett St.