Planning staff previews draft food-truck ordinance; commissioners raise questions on restrooms, signage and zoning

Planning staff presented an eight-page draft ordinance July 9 that defines "food truck" and creates distinct rules for a "food truck court," seeking direction from the Morgan County Planning Commission on size, sanitation and zoning.

The staff member reading the draft said, "A food truck means a fully encased on a motor vehicle or on a trailer that a motor vehicle pulls to transport. A truck vendor standing within the frame of the vehicle prepares, cooks, sells, or serves food or beverages for immediate human consumption," and noted the draft excludes ice-cream trucks and food carts from that definition. The draft couples operational requirements (business license, fire and health approvals at the commissary) with site rules for courts.

Commissioners and attendees pressed staff on several practical items: whether two trucks 800 feet apart should qualify as a court; how close trucks must stand to each other for a site to constitute a court; minimum parcel size ideas (examples noted in the discussion included 0.5 acre or 20,000 square feet); and whether courts should be permanent or temporary. The staff member said hours in the draft are 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and that overnight parking is disallowed except at commissary locations.

Public-safety and sanitation questions prompted repeated calls to consult the Weber-Morgan Health Department. On portable toilets, staff read the draft provision that small courts (4 or fewer spots) would require "a minimum of 1 portable toilet and handwashing facility for the joint use of occupants," while discussion included suggestions to add toilets as the number of stalls grows (for example, one additional unit per 5–10 additional stalls).

Commissioners also discussed signage limits, permanent vs. temporary court distinctions, setbacks and clearview rules near intersections, parking computations (potentially using the county's restaurant standard), and whether permanent courts should be subject to a conditional-use permit. Commissioners suggested separating regulations for single food trucks (transient, curbside operations) from food-truck courts (more permanent, integrated sites) and adding a temporary/special-event category for pop-up courts.

The staff member asked commissioners to mark up the draft and return comments; no formal action was taken on the ordinance at the meeting. The item will return as a draft for further revisions that incorporate health-department guidance, parking and setback standards, and a clearer distinction between temporary events and permanent courts.