Council tables food truck rules after mayor objects
Food trucks have become “a nuisance” in some parts of Elizabeth City because of a lack of regulation, according to Development Director Carl Best. “It has become a circus atmosphere in certain areas,” Best told the Elizabeth City Council at its Nov. 9 regular meeting. “Some of the trucks and some of the vendors have become a nuisance to the city. They’re dropping grease down our drains, they’re not obtaining their health licenses, they’re setting up without permits, they’re setting up in places where they shouldn’t be, running extension cords from other buildings, littering. ... We are not anti-food truck, though.” Elizabeth City currently regulates food trucks through its code of ordinances, not its Unified Development Ordinance, the city’s main zoning and development rulebook. Best said the UDO lacks a food truck section, which prompted the planning department to draft several pages of amendments that council considered Nov. 9. Despite Best’s concerns about bad actors among local food truck operators, council unanimously voted to table the proposed regulations at the request of Mayor Kirk Rivers. “There are a lot of things in here where if you’re a food truck operator it gives you heartburn,” Rivers said. “I would ask the
