Canton City Council members are looking at tightening up regulations on food trucks that are increasingly operating in the city.
Mayor Gene Hobgood asked City Manager Billy Peppers to draft an ordinance that may require licensing of the trucks. Peppers had suggested that the city either work up an ordinance directly addressing food trucks, or regulate the eateries-on-wheels through the city’s existing peddlers license.
One problem with the peddlers license, said Peppers, is that it prohibits selling from a motorized vehicle in its present form.
Mayor Gene Hobgood said there have been conflicts between downtown businesses and restaurateurs and the trucks, with the trucks “cherry-picking” good days to come in and set up shop near existing brick-and-mortar eateries. He said that guidelines need to be established that are fair to both the mobile operators and downtown businesses.
At least one council members said he favored licensing the trucks.
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