MANSFIELD -- The food truck industry has flourished in Mansfield in recent years, largely unregulated by any city regulations.
That may change in the near future.
Assistant Law Director Christopher Brown on Tuesday outlined to City Council on Tuesday evening potential elements of what such legislation could consider.
"As we know over the past five years or so, food trucks have gotten more and more popular across the country, but especially here in town," Brown said.
"If you look at the City of Mansfield's current codified ordinance as it relates to food trucks, there is literally nothing when it comes to regulating food trucks," he said.
"When you think about that, what that really is talking about is the old-timey hotdog cart vender. That's really what our current ordinance is aimed at. And as I mentioned, it only regulates this activity within the central business district of the city," Brown said.
The city attorney said it's "petty rare" that the city would create an entire new ordinance section "from whole cloth" without relying on a national standard.
He pointed to recent significant changes in wastewater treatment laws and the city's fire code, which were largely based on national and state standards. Such standards don't exist in terms of food truck ordinances, Brown said.
"We can't do that because Mansfield is significantly different than a city like Columbus when it comes to our food truck regulation need. So the big things here are gonna be licensing, enforcement and penalties.
"As I mentioned, currently, we have no way currently to hold folks accountable," the assistant law director said.
"I do have a model ordinance from the City of Columbus that we will be working from and I will be presenting a full ordinance before you. But I didn't want to lay down 30 pages of ordinance in front of you and ask you to comb through that (tonight)," Brown said.
Brown did share a one-page document that had potential points City Council may want to consider, including:
-- limiting food truck operations in certain districts, i.e. not in residential areas.
-- designating where food trucks may operate within those districts, i.e. public parking spots, in the city right-of-way or only on private property.
-- hours of operation and size of trucks.
-- licensing practicalities, including cost and penalties for trucks operating without a license.
-- fire prevention and safety, perhaps requiring inspection by the Mansfield Fire Department.
Brown said food safety is currently handled by Richland Public Health.
"We're not going to try to get into the business of regulating food safety. That's something (Richland Public Health) already does," he said.
Brown said City Council may want to consider granting exemptions for special events, such as Final Fridays, which see multiple food trucks operating in one area.
At-large Councilwoman Stephanie Zader speaks during Tuesday evening's meeting.
At-large Councilwoman Stephanie, who thanked Brown for his work, said she brought the topic to the assistant law director after being contacted by a local business owner.
"I do think there are rules in place for a reason for a lot of things. So I think that that's important with this, too. We want to make sure that the public is safe and we want to make sure that we don't have businesses stepping on other businesses' toes," Zader said.
"I know there's a long laundry list of things here and we can weigh in on a lot of things, but I think that we have great department heads that do a good job that we can trust to put something together for us as well," she said.
4th Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport listens during Tuesday evening's meeting.
4th Ward Councilman Alomar Davenport said there are special events in city parks, such as Johns Park and North Lake Park, that are in residential areas.
"I think that's something that needs to be considered," he said in terms of residential restrictions, a thought echoed by 2nd Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Meier.
"My recommendation would be limited hours in a residential neighborhood. Nobody wants to see that going on until all hours of the night," she said.
Chuck Hahn, Cleveland Financial Group, invests in this independent reporting through a Newsroom Partnership.
City editor. 30-year plus journalist. Husband. Father of 3 grown sons and also a proud grandpa. Prior military journalist in U.S. Navy, Ohio Air National Guard. -- Favorite quote: "Where were you when the page was blank?"
