City considering, researching centralized food truck location

The Graham City Council began early discussions Thursday, Jan. 5 on a potential centralized location for food trucks in the city. The council tasked city staff to create a cost estimate and do further research regarding the proposed project after being presented with three possible locations.

The council first discussed the ordinances related to food trucks during their Thursday, Dec. 8 meeting after concerns were raised with Councilmember Randy Cantin. City staff were requested by the council to develop a presentation on potential locations for a centralized food truck park and other associated aspects of developing the location.

“Some of the concerns that were brought to my attention by the citizens are (...) a few years ago we had two and now we’re up to eight. Five years from now, what could that be? How does that affect our current restaurant owners? Because let me tell you, in a restaurant business, you have quite a bit of fixed costs there that a food truck doesn’t,” Cantin said Thursday. “I like food trucks, I’m not against them. But I think if done correctly, everybody can benefit from this (central location). But as a community and a city and wanting to thrive, we do need restaurants as well and we need to keep them in mind.”

Graham Code Enforcement Officer BJ Cook said an estimated eight food trucks around the city have agreements with landowners where they are located. The trucks are required to present a letter to the city stating that they have permission to use that location. He said food trucks have to be in a location designated as commercial to operate.

City Manager Eric Garretty said consolidating the food trucks to one location could create a fixed facility that could become a gathering place with related events such as live music. The consolidation will also create a centralized lunchtime location for those in the community.

For the full story, see the Wednesday, Jan. 11 edition of The Graham Leader.