Fulton County is looking to make it easier for food trucks from other counties to operate here, in line with state legislation passed last year.
County commissioners are expected to vote Wednesday on a resolution “allowing mobile food service establishments, such as food trucks, to obtain a permit to operate in one home county rather than having to obtain a full permit in each county in which they operate,” according to the agenda. If approved, the resolution would go into effect 30 days after adoption.
The Fulton resolution follows Georgia House Bill 1443, which got wide bipartisan support in 2022, said Tony Harrison, Food Truck Association of Georgia board president. The food truck association, restaurant association and health officials supported passage of that law, viewing it as an “almost historic” step forward for food trucks, he said.
The Fulton County Board of Health, which inspects and issues permits to food trucks, approved the change Jan. 25. Loss of permit fees from other counties’ food trucks would be partially offset by a $75 “mobile unit administrative research fee” for verifying that a truck is indeed approved by health officials in its home county.
Food trucks from elsewhere would still need to fill out a short form in Fulton County, allowing Fulton health officials to check a statewide database of food trucks with approved permits, Harrison said. But that’s faster and simpler than applying for a new permit altogether.
It’s also much cheaper. It would save food truck operators hundreds of dollars on Fulton County permits, Harrison said.
Harrison said most food trucks in the region would probably be glad to operate in Fulton County, and may do so eventually. But within the next year or two, additional trucks here might be limited to 30 or 50 because of some other administrative and logistical hurdles.
There are between 150 and 200 food trucks operating In the counties that make up the metro Atlanta, he said.
“All food trucks have to be permitted in the county where their base of operations or their commissary is, if you will,” Harrison said. “The intent is to save small-business food truck owners on outrageous fees.”
The city of Atlanta has additional, also expensive, requirements that have prevented many out-of-county food trucks from operating there, he said. The county resolution will increase the number of food trucks working in the area, but the cost and difficulty of doing so in Atlanta proper will likely keep that number down, Harrison said.
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