By Moses Leos III

Potential changes to Kyle’s food truck ordinance were sent back to the city staff’s drawing board after Kyle City Council disapproved of its verbiage and structure as a whole. 

The majority of council held concerns the changes to the ordinance, as it was written, could be too cumbersome to manage. 

Amendments to the ordinance were presented to city council in early July as a public hearing item. However, no vendors were present and no residents spoke during the comment period. 

District 6 council member Daphne Tenorio had concerns regarding “getting the word out” to food truck vendors regarding meetings. 

Scott Sellers, Kyle city manager, said there are currently eight permitted food trucks in Kyle city limits. Sellers said food vendors are notified via email about upcoming meetings. 

“I just want to know how we are getting the word out to these food vendors about these meetings,” said Tenorio. “I just want to make sure that everyone is having some chance in this discussion.” 

The ordinance draft was presented to the council, which had the option to approve the ordinance as is, along with recommend making amendments to the ordinance and giving any recommendations to move forward. 

Travis Mitchell, District 1 council member, asked Sellers if the ordinance held language for single event permits for vendors. 

Sellers said the creation of a permit for single events is necessary, as the city currently does not have one set up. 

He said there were recent food trucks that contacted the city for single events inquiring about a permit, and the city had to give them permission without a permit. 

But Mitchell was also concerned with language in the current ordinance that calls for a 60-minute time limit for vendors to setup and breakdown. 

District 3 council member Shane Arabie said the 60-minute limit was meant to ensure food trucks that deliver sandwiches to construction sites didn’t linger. 

That section was part of the original ordinance and it will need to be changed, Sellers said.

“If they’re trying to set up and serve a meal, 60 minutes is impossible,” Mitchell said. 

“I think we’re trying to encompass too much with one ordinance,” Arabie said. 

Arabie recommended there should be three separate ordinances, or multiple sections within the ordinance, that defines separate issues. 

“There’s a lot of holes that we’re trying to patch and I do believe starting over or at least amending subsections to clarify would be much easier than going down the path we’re going down,” Arabie said. 

David Fogley, Mayor Pro Tem, said he believes the ordinance should go through the Economic Development Committee, along with the Planning and Zoning commission and city council. 

“Since we are regulating commerce, I think it might be valuable to at least bring it up through that committee and gather some information from them before we move forward,” Fogley said. 

The council agreed the city has more work to do before they can approve the food truck ordinance. 

“You have a lot of feedback,” Webster said. “I appreciate the hard work, but there’s a little more work to go.”