Food on the move

Shindigs food truck is a regular sight next to Mountain Brook Elementary on Tuesdays. However, the truck may not be able to sell its salmon burgers and specialty “L.A.” balls there in the near future.

A new ordinance being considered by the City Council would regulate where Mountain Brook resident Mac Russell parks his Shindigs food truck, and the latest version would disallow it from the spaces on Heathermoor Road it has occupied one day a week for the past two years — or anywhere that’s not private property. This draft, presented on July 14, would exclude businesses such as ice cream trucks that don’t park for more than 10 minutes in one location.

Russell said he was pleased with an earlier draft of the ordinance, which specified that trucks must operate at least 50 feet away from any existing restaurant or outdoor dining areas when the restaurant is open, and at least 10 feet away from intersections, crosswalks, fire or police stations, fire hydrants and other mobile vendors. It also would not allow a vendor to operate for more than three continuous hours.

 At that point, he had praised City Planner Dana Hazen and the city for listening to truck owners’ recommendations. With a restriction of operating no less than 50 feet from a business, he did not believe the ordinance would have a negative impact on his business.

However, Russell said he thought the latest draft restricting trucks to private property was stepping too far, especially since no village businesses have complained about his truck’s presence. Overall, he would like to see an ordinance that restricts vendors who do not have the best interests of the community in mind. However, preventing the positive impacts of the trucks, which he said can act as incubators for future brick-and-mortar businesses, would be a mistake.

Still, the council is trying to consider the interests of business owners in the villages.

“I love Shindigs and others, but being a brick and mortar store myself, I understand where the brick-and-mortars are coming from,” Sew Sheri owner Sheri Corey said. “We pay a lot to have our stores and restaurants here in this community. We also love this community and give a lot back and not just in taxes. I think we have great restaurants in our villages, and I don’t see them going under because they aren’t good. We need this community to support their locals that give back to this community.”

Since mobile vendors first entered Mountain Brook in 2012, the city has been considering regulating them. Over the past two years, the city issued mobile vendor licenses to eight businesses including Shindigs Catering, Melt, Spoonfed Grill, Our Ice Cream, Hole in One Donuts, Repicci’s Italian Ice, Birmingham Fashion Truck and Gypsy Blue Fashion Truck. 

“We think it’s not great when retailers park in front of retailers,” City Council Representative Jesse Vogtle said in a June Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce Board meeting, noting that truck vendors don’t pay property taxes to the city. “They come in and sell their wares and leave.”

When the city decided to take steps forward with regulation this year, Hazen first met with food truck owners and village merchants about what would be best for the city. 

Merchants did not want the trucks on primary frontage roads. In the first two meetings where the ordinance was discussed, the City Council looked at prohibiting trucks from parking in the right-of-way or in spaces that were not parallel. Once those areas were eliminated, Hazen found that there wasn’t much city property remaining for parking.

“There really isn’t anywhere for them to park, regardless of whether you are for them or against them,” Hazen said.

Hazen did note that exceptions to the ordinance’s “only on private property” rule could be made in the ordinance. At a July 17 Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce Board meeting, she mentioned providing for a special permit for trucks to park at Crestline Elementary during certain hours, as well as possibly inviting trucks to Overton Park or the new Cahaba River Park one day a week.

The next step for the ordinance is to gather input from residents. A public hearing regarding it will be held at either the second council meeting in August or the first one in September, according to Hazen. Check villagelivingonline.com for updates on the hearing date.