Rochester City Council is asking the public to weigh in on what they think of food trucks. A public forum is scheduled tonight at City Hall.
Council member Elaine Spaull says the food truck program should be evaluated before it's expanded any further. Vendors can now register with the city to operate at twelve different locations.
Ronnie McClive of the Food Truck Alliance says food truck operators want more freedom and flexibility, especially outside of the center city.
"The process that is in place to get an approved location outside of city center is very long and it involves multiple departments. There is much confusion among those departments about what needs to be done,” McClive said. “We're looking to shift toward something similar to what is in Buffalo, which is a set of rules that say as long as they find a location that fits into those rule guidelines, they don't need to get approval, they can just operate."
Spaull says most feedback about the food trucks has been positive. She says the city will review the program in the next several months before making any final decisions about expanding it.
One area Spaull says city officials want to review is fire safety. “One of the things that we require here are leak protection systems. Those may not be in every truck so far. I think we just want to make sure that everyone has those systems, and that all employees on these trucks know proper use of fire extinguishers, where they are and how to locate them if they need them.”
Tonight's public forum is from 5 to 7 in room 302 A of City Hall on Church Street.
