City Council on Oct. 23 held an extended discussion of a revised mobile food vending ordinance that would regulate where food trucks, canteen trucks and similar vendors may operate within East Ridge.

Staff presented Revision 2 of the draft ordinance, which establishes a 200-foot minimum distance from existing eateries measured from property lines for most mobile food vehicles, and creates a new overlay district on the east end of Ringgold Road covering specified parcels. The draft also would allow one location permit per calendar year for a single mobile-food-vending permit at a site unless the parcel is inside an overlay district, where different rules would apply.

Council members raised multiple practical questions. Several members and staff discussed how annual permits would apply to stadium events, where food trucks sometimes operate inside stadium fencing or on adjacent property; council directed staff to add the stadium and its parking area to the overlay district so event-related food trucks could be accommodated under an annual permit rather than separate single-event permits.

Councilors also debated whether ice cream and snow-cone trucks should be treated the same as food trucks and whether the ordinance should let restaurant owners host a truck on their own property during special events without triggering the separation requirement. Staff said special-event permits would remain an option but recommended keeping the 200-foot buffer to avoid direct competition with brick-and-mortar businesses that contribute property tax.

Members cautioned the ordinance could have “unintentional consequences” and agreed to send the revised draft to the city attorney for consolidation into formal ordinance language. The attorney said he would bring a consolidated ordinance and staff presentation back for first reading on a future meeting, and work with council preferences such as the stadium overlay and clarifications on canteen/ice-cream truck treatment.

No final ordinance vote occurred; council gave staff direction to revise the draft and return it for formal consideration.