Food Truck Feeding Frenzy
Zoning Practice — September 2013
By Rodney Arroyo, FAICP, Jill Bahm, AICP
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Recent economic and cultural trends show an explosion in the popularity of food trucks, or mobile vendors, over the past several years. All across the country, cities, small towns, and suburbs are seeing food trucks popping up, some in unexpected places like office and industrial parks, where zoning ordinances typically preclude restaurants.
Amplifying the push for food trucks are the twin trends of "buying local" and "food as entertainment" that are enhanced by programs such as the Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network. While ice cream trucks and job-site lunch wagons haven't disappeared, they are increasingly being joined by gourmet trucks and trucks specializing in ethnic offerings.
This issue of Zoning Practice discusses a range of issues for communities to consider as they add or update regulations for food trucks and other mobile vendors. It addresses permissible locations and site and operational conditions.
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About the Authors
Rodney Arroyo, FAICP
Rod Arroyo, FAICP, is President of City Photos and Books, Inc., and a retired Partner (Partner Emeritus) with Giffels Webster, a consulting firm based in downtown Detroit. He holds a Master of City Planning degree from Georgia Tech and has served as adjunct faculty in Wayne State University's Graduate Urban Planning Program, bringing over 40 years of planning experience to his work. During his time as a consulting planner, he prepared many award-winning plans and zoning codes.
Currently, Rod serves as a researcher and lecturer on Detroit history, specializing in the historic neighborhoods of Paradise Valley, Black Bottom, and Sugar Hill. His recent research has documented the number, type, and location of Black-owned businesses in these neighborhoods in 1952, approximately the time Detroit's population reached its peak. He has also mapped and documented the numerous jazz clubs and venues that flourished during the 1940s and 1950s, when Detroit musicians played a critical role in the emergence of bebop and other jazz styles. Through his lectures, he shares the story of these once-thriving neighborhoods that were ultimately displaced and damaged by urban renewal projects and freeway construction.
Jill Bahm, AICP
Jill Bahm is a partner at Giffels Webster, a multi-disciplinary land consulting firm with headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. She leads the planning team and works with a variety of communities of all shapes and sizes, each with their own unique challenges and opportunities. One of her specialties is training and education – helping people understand planning and the tools for implementation. Jill has a graduate degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Michigan and sits on the Michigan Association of Planning board of directors. She currently serves as the organization’s professional development officer.