TITLE
Recommendation to respectfully request City Manager to develop a recommendation to the City Attorney for a draft of an ordinance for permitting businesses to operate mobile food vending vehicles in the City of Long Beach; and
Respectfully request Planning Commission to undertake a study on the land use and zoning issues regarding amending Long Beach Municipal Code Section 21.53.106 to allow mobile food trucks to operate beyond construction sites, and within six (6) months recommend to the City Council regulations and conditions that should be required for any such business license, permit or other entitlement.
DISCUSSION
Southern California has been at the epicenter of a growing trend of gourmet cuisine being sold as street food from a variety of mobile food trucks. Through an array of social media campaigns, these gourmet food trucks have created a business niche and devoted following of customers that has caught the attention of several global news outlets and national television shows. Having the trucks at
events such as art exhibits, concerts, festivals and various community and neighborhood events has served to facilitate culture by bringing international food to people who might otherwise never have tried it.
The cities of Los Angeles and Santa Monica as well as Los Angeles County have all recently taken action to define, regulate and improve relations with the gourmet food trucks; even going so far as to create a Mobile Food Truck Task Force in the City of Los Angeles. Currently, the Long Beach Municipal Code addresses the issue of food trucks under two sections - Title 5 related to business licensing and Title 21 related to zoning restrictions permitting mobile food trucks only at construction sites.
In an effort to make the City of Long Beach a more desirable place for gourmet food trucks to bring business, the City should evaluate current policies and permitting/licensing processes to better facilitate their presence while at the same time pr...
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