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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRFD - 21-00475 -Mobile Food Court - Development Code Added Section #21 00475 Mobile Food Court Development Code Amendment June 24, 2021, An application was received for a Development Code Amendment for Mobile Food Courts from the City of Rexburg. July 6, 2021, Staff Reviews were completed. July 1, 2021, Notice was sent to the newspaper to be published on July 20th and July 27th, 2021. August 5, 2021, Alan Parkinson presented the application to the Planning & Zoning Commission. 6:35PM – Mobile Food Court – (21-00475) – Development Code Amendment – Add section for Mobile Food Court with additional definitions and necessary amendments to current zones. (action) - Alan Parkinson Applicant Presentation: – Alan Parkinson – Some modifications were made after the initial review documents were submitted. After meeting with the public, there were some concerns. Staff addressed those concerns and adjusted the code to address those concerns, making the code more beneficial to the city and the community. Please ask questions, share concerns, and ask questions. The main goal of this code is to create more opportunities for food vendors. An opportunity has been created for a place to cluster a bunch of food vendors. In addition, there are opportunities for sidewalk and street vendors, as well as seasonal vendors. Sidewalk and street vendors are set up each day and removed each day; they are temporary. Seasonal vendors are on a single parcel for six (6) months. Once concern the public brought to us was with seasonal vending. Initially, this option had been removed. Staff looked at this option again and included them. The Mobile Food Court code implementation begins with some definitions. Definitions were clarified, so people could better understand. A hot dog stand that moves up and down the sidewalk would be considered a sidewalk vendor. Mobile vending vehicles are like a taco bus or van. Mobile vending trailers are pulled behind a vehicle. Vending locations have been identified for street vendors in parallel parking spaces. There will be a map placed in this code showing where street vending can occur. Those vendors will have to be able to vend towards the sidewalk. Seasonal vendors are those who are vending anywhere from fourteen (14) days to one hundred eighty (180) days. Food court vendors inside an established Mobile Food Court is what is being added to the code today. This will establish a place where a place is set up with setbacks, sidewalks, sewer and water hook-ups, access to the street, landscaping, creating a fully developed lot. Then, a food vendor can contract with them and be there from a few days to year-round. A food vendor can contract with a mobile food court owner. One of the initial questions when developing this code, was how do you overcome Impact Fees that a brick-and-mortar business has to pay. A food vendor court will have to get a license and the vendors themselves will have to get their own license. The fees will be determined by the City’s Master Fee List. Next, the implementation of the Mobile Food Court shows zoning tables where this use would be allowed. Mixed Use, Community Business Center, Central Business District, Regional Business Center, Light Industrial, Public Facilities, and University District are zones that will allow Mobile Food Courts with a Conditional Use Permit. If the University wants to have an event where they want to bring in mobile vendors, we are going to allow that to happen if they build the Mobile Food Court. Food court area requirements come next. A lot of these requirements are consistent with those of brick-and-mortar businesses. Some of the requirements will be dependent on the zoning in which it is placed like setbacks, screening adjacent to residential, lighting, etc. Sidewalk connectivity will be required to be able to travel from a public sidewalk to the vending locations. People ordering from the vendor will be standing on a hard surface. There are some landscaping requirements with a 10% minimum in the existing zones will have to be met. Parking will need to be addressed. For each mobile vendor, three (3) parking spaces are required. Water, sewer, and grease will have to meet the city’s Engineering Standards. Density is limited to fifteen (15) mobile vending carts/acre. Permanent bathroom facilities or within 300’ there is an agreement with the landowner to use a brick-and-mortar bathroom. The bathroom stall requirement is a minimum of one (1) and an additional bathroom for every five (5) vendors. Parking also has to be located within 300’. Chairman Kunz clarified seasonal vendor bathrooms is one per three (3) vendors. Commissioner Questions: Chairman Kunz asked about the time limitations for vendors. Alan said in a mobile food court, the vendor time frame of unlimited is not specifically stated. As written, the seasonal vendors are defined with a requirement to move to a different parcel every six months, which is currently in place, or they must shut down for the year. Greg said when people come in to apply, is the Health Department inspection part of the permit. Alan answered the mobile vendor vehicle must meet certain requirements for this code and the Health Department will have additional requirements if serving food that will be shown before a business license will be issued. The trailer or unit will have to be self-contained. Alan said only natural gas will be allowed as a cooking fuel or for running a generator. In the food court, we are proposing electricity be installed and water and sewer connections. Greg confirmed no charcoal will be allowed for cooking. Alan answered this is for fire safety. Cooking facilities outside of the trailer requires more area around the trailer you are trying to protect the public from to keep them from getting burned. John said he has not completely read this code. He asked about the established food vendors scattered around town; how do they go about following this code. Alan answered those mobile food vendors that are existing are seasonal and will have to comply with a few of the requirements. The vendors may have to bring in port-a-potties or work out an agreement with a brick-and-mortar business to meet the bathroom requirements or put in a hard surface for customers to stand on, for example, but the vendors can stay where they are. After six (6) months, they would have to move to a different parcel or shut down. John confirmed now there will be an option to bring the vendors together to a closer location in a Mobile Food Court. Greg asked if we have had problems and that is what spurred this ordinance. Alan said we have had some brick-and-mortar businesses that had problems with the mobile vendors. Complaints were brought to the City Council and the Mayor. The Council and Mayor brought the situation to Staff to find solutions. Concerns included bathroom facility use, supplies, impact fees, and taxes. Impact Fees for brick and mortar were paid once, but the mobile vendor fee will have to be paid each year. The bathroom requirements will allow facilities onsite to prevent customers to have to go somewhere else. Greg asked if there are violations, is there a three strikes you are out policy? Alan answered the mobile vendor will have to close if they are in violation until they come into compliance. Code Enforcement will monitor the mobile vendors. Vince asked if in the code for Mobile Food Court will require a lot from the applicant. What will prevent several trailers combing together and creating their own court without meeting these requirements? Alan said as long as the requirements for a seasonal vendor are met, this would be allowed. Vince said it seems like it would be much easier to be a seasonal vendor, then to put in the extra work of creating a food court. Chairman Kunz said if you wanted to be a year-round vendor, you would rent a space in a mobile food court facility. Vince is suggesting language that limits the number of trailers that can be located together to two or three before you are designated as a food court. Alan noted the original proposal contained no seasonal vendors; a vendor either worked with a Mobile Food Court or you worked out an agreement with an established business. The group realized a lot of these vendors are seasonal and only operate part of the year and they want to close. Vince’s concern is if twenty (20) trailers can get together and meet all the other requirements during the summertime, they are pretty much a court. Alan responded the situation will be monitored; this is the city’s best effort at this point. Vince is in favor of the situation right now; he does not want to force the current mobile vendors into a Mobile Food Court. The consensus was Staff feels we have a decent balance with all interested parties. John confirmed the mobile food courts are a private enterprise. Alan said he has several proposals brought to him. Bruce has a problem with the definition of “food court” that is defined as a “facility inside a shopping mall for fast food outlets where tables and chairs are located,” on his phone. Chairman Kunz asked for the definition for Mobile Food Court in the proposed ordinance. He said it is not as important what everyone else defines the term as, but it is important what the words are defined as within the document. Alan read the definition from the ordinance that says, “Mobile Food Court: An area that consists of three (3) or more vendors at a permanent site in an open-air location with designated stalls or areas.” Vince said if I only have two (2) contracted mobile vendors, do I have to recruit a third vendor? Alan said all you would have to do is build the third site. You would have to have the capacity for three (3) or more vendors. Maybe the clarification for the “availability” of three or more vending “sites” be added to the mobile food court definition. Vince clarified the trailers must be in an “open-air location.” Alan said for ventilation with mobile food trailers must be outside. Greg asked if Alan has talked to the current seasonal vendors. Alan said Staff talked to several seasonal mobile vendors and they are mostly comfortable with this ordinance. The person, who brought some of the original complaints, is no longer a business-owner in Rexburg. No one else has had the same complaints. One of the key points Alan said is you cannot park within fifty (50’) feet of a brick-and-mortar business selling the same item. Permission would have to be received from that brick-and-mortar business. The reason for this rule was to keep vendors from parking in front of a business of the same type, so as not to block their presence or line of sight. Greg asked if other cities have had similar problems and what have they done. Alan answered other cities have had similar issues. Initially, mobile vendors brought in an ordinance from Logan, Utah. In Utah, they can tax sales, but we cannot do this in Idaho. Logan’s ordinance required mobile vendors work with established businesses to share parking and restroom facilities. Staff felt, for Rexburg, there needed to be more flexibility.  Chairman opened the public input portion of the hearing at 7:06PM. Favor: None Neutral: Jessica Mortensen – 210 Nez Perce – (Business) 328 N 2nd E – She is a local, seasonal vendor. She feels comfortable with the ordinance as it stands now. This ordinance provides businesses an opportunity to grow to be viable. The previous draft would have shut her business down. There are a few things she has concerns about. She feels if you are going to be a seasonal business and you shut down for the season, she believes you should have to move off of that parcel. It does not add anything to our community to have closed vending trailers sitting on properties; this is part of the owner’s responsibility as a seasonal business. There are some things she feels that need to be enforced better, like where they are dumping their waste. We need to maintain a higher standard of care for our community. Some vendors are not dumping in appropriate places. The City needs to know where the waste is being dumped and be comfortable with that location. The cleanliness of our locations and properties could be encouraged and required. With the Compliance Officers this can be addressed. There will be a time the property I am on will sell. The Mobile Food Court option may be best for her business. There may not be many properties that will allow me to have the parking to sustain my business. It is difficult to convince private property owners to allow you to allow your trailer on their property. Because she is established, Jessica has been approached by businesses for possible agreements. Until the property Jessica is on sells, she would like to stay where she is for visibility. She feels comfortable with this ordinance. Commissioner Greg Blacker asked if dumping public waste is a Public Health Department compliance issue or a City regulation issue. Jessica believes this is the responsibility of both entities. The Public Health Department is more stringent than the City is. The City is the one that is processing the waste. If they are telling the Public Health Department where they are dumping, they are taking them for their word. She has witnessed dumping in the storm drains which impacts the treatment. Jessica has a grease receptor, and her business is low risk, because most of her waste is gray water. She has the grease receptor for cream. Some car washes will allow you to dump that waste with a fee. A cleanliness level is required. At any moment you can see into her kitchen. Some trailers are probably cleaner than restaurants you eat at, due to the visibility. They are doing a lot of things right. We can do some things better. Greg asked if the Public Health Department comes once a season or more often. Jessica answered there is a typical once-a-season inspection. They will come back if they have any complaints or if they are concerned with your compliance. Dave Thomson – 634 S 7th W – He is neutral because there is a lot of good coming with this ordinance change. He appreciates the Commissioners’ service. He is speaking in the neutral category, instead of the for or against, because having been in a Commission, he has learned to look at the broader picture and the future potential that this ordinance will become. He is concerned with the proposal, and what was said tonight. There are a few things that have been stated as factual, that are not factual. Dave is trying to facilitate a better resolution. This ordinance can make things fair and equitable. Jessica and he are good friends and they have tried to get the mobile food vendors to come up to a standard on their own, but some have not been agreeable. The definitions at first were limiting, but in this new draft those definitions have improved. There are still a few vendors allowed in other areas of the country, who could fall under several definitions in the vendors’ best interests. These definitions could be fine-tuned. He has some comments about the requirements seem to be good ideas, but in looking at other regulatory agencies, the food vendor would end up in violation of one or multiple agencies. In these situations, the language needs to more exacting. Some concerns are regulatory issues required by other regulatory agencies as external but are required to be internal by this code. Dave realizes this is for safety. An example would be it was noted tonight “All food vendors would need to hook up to natural gas.” Natural gas is at a higher psi and different regulations and tanks are required, licensing, and transportation. He does not know if this is a misquote and it was meant to be “propane”. Natural gas could create an opportunity for a larger explosion. It was also mentioned, this situation came about from conflict with brick-and-mortar businesses. He operated a group of mobile vendors, which was targeted by a brick-and-mortar business. The business owner did not understand was a camera for the entire season in place, recording the interactions. The video footage showed some of those factual stated things, were not actually factual at all. Dave agrees with the bathroom ideas. The distancing methodology could be adjusted to make it more beneficial for the community. There are a lot of problems the city is working through that equate to law that the businesses will have to comply with. Permits for like product vending proximity could be considered a “taking”. Chairman Kunz clarified the Zoning Administrator said this is to prevent line of sight blockage. Dave said this measurement could be an interpretational difference like from front door, any door, from signage, from their lot, from public right-of-way. The language could be fleshed out to be clearer. If the Commission would like to move forward in a more expeditious way, there could be a joint meeting with the mobile vendors. Most of vendors would like to come in and talk to City Staff. They have been told they can come in and speak to Staff. Understanding the Health Department Code would be important. Chairman Kunz asked for a specific example where the current code would violate another entities’ coding requirement. Dave said some states require the generators be placed away from the mobile trailer and not be attached to the vehicle. The city’s code requires generators be attached to the vending trailer. Exhaust from those generators was measured in various wind conditions. He recommends before the Commission acts on this Mobile Food Court ordinance, all the vendors would like to meet with the City Staff. Dave would like to have all the details in place prior to recommendation to City Council. Opposed: None Written Correspondence: None Chairman asked if anyone else would like to speak. He closed the public input portion of the hearing at 7:26PM. Rebuttal: Chairman Kunz does not typically allow the City to rebut. He asked Alan Parkinson to come up to clarify a few things. Alan said he misspoke on the natural gas; it is propane required on the mobile trailers. In a Mobile Food Court, if a hard connect is wanted, they can hook up to natural gas. On the trailers, propane is expected, like a camper. When it comes to cleanliness, we are requiring the places are kept clean. The City is requiring the mobile trailers to identify where the waste will be dumped. As far as contradicting, the Building Department Administrator was pulled in to address those types of regulations. Trailers are regulated under another code, not building code. Generators were considered standard within the trailer to be contained to reduce noise, safety, and trailer conflicts. One meeting was held for Staff and the public to come in and talk about mobile vending. Staff is not opposed to speaking to the public. Staff felt they talked to many of the mobile vendors. Parts of the code were identified as concerns and Staff felt those concerns were addressed. Vince asked if another meeting with mobile vendors would be beneficial. Why would a seasonal vendor be allowed to leave a trailer while it is closed for the season? Alan said this is private property and the City has no authority to regulate unless a business is being conducted under a license. These trailers need to be able to move within 24-hours. Vince confirmed the seasonal vendor definition allows a mobile vendor to stay on the same parcel for 180 days. Alan gave one example, on 5th S, the bus does not have to move very far. He owns two parcels next to each other, and he just relocates a few feet, to meet the requirements of the code. John said many things brought up tonight are good, but he would like to see the proposal have a little more time to improve the code. Alan said this is the public meeting for the public to come in and share their concerns. Staff felt they had enough information to move forward on this ordinance. It never hurts to have input, but you can input yourself to death. Sally said this is a public hearing and there are not many people here. She does not know if there would be much more attendance if another meeting was held. Advice has been taken from some of the city’s successful vendors. Alan said there may have to be modifications down the road. Vince asked the Chairman when this code would go in to affect. It seems we are well into the season for these seasonal vendors. He wonders if it would be best to make these changes effective immediately or on January 1, 2022. He believes we have tried to establish some good changes. Chairman Kunz says this could be part of the recommendation to City Council. Greg agrees having the time to January 1st would allow any potential changes to be addressed. Conflict of Interest? – Chairman Kunz asked the Commissioners if they have a conflict of interest or if they have been approached by any parties relative to this particular subject. If you believe your prior contact with respect to this subject has created a bias, you should recuse yourself, otherwise at this time please indicate the nature of your conversation or contact. None. Commissioner Discussion: None MOTION: Recommend City Council pass the Mobile Food Court ordinance as written, because we need some regulations for these vendors, and this is the best solution at this point. It is recommended these regulations be effective January 1, 2022, Action: Approve, Moved by Greg Blacker, Seconded by Todd Marx. Commissioner Discussion on the Motion: Vince confirmed some of these wording changes will be part of the recommendation as noted in the minutes. VOTE: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 7). Yes: Bruce Casper, Chairman Rory Kunz, Greg Blacker, John Bowen, Sally Smith, Todd Marx, Vince Haley. September 1, 2021, the application was presented to City Council by Alan Parkinson. Staff Recommendation to Amend Ordinance No 1029 and Ordinance No 707, Rexburg Municipal Code Chapter 6.1 and Chapter 6.2 to Clarify Business Registration Requirements for Solicitors, Mobile Vendors, and Street and Sidewalk Vendors as well as Removing All Land Use Regulations and Referring them to the Rexburg Development Code Ordinance No 1200 and its Amendments. Designated as Ordinance No 1256 if Motion Passes and Considered 1st Read – Deborah Lovejoy and Alan Parkinson City Clerk Lovejoy reviewed the proposed amendments to Ordinance 1029 and 707. One change to this ordinance is the catering license for alcohol. The permit is for five days, and the fee is $20.00 per permit per day. Caterers need to have a state license and can only sell beer and wine. The city follows that state statutes; however, the city ordinance is to set the fees and make it easier for businesses to find the information they need. City Clerk Lovejoy pointed out another change to the new ordinance is to separate solicitors and mobile vendors. Mayor Merrill asked if the tabled ordinance #1200 and these ordinances #1029 & #707 are closely related and should therefore also be tabled for now. City Clerk Lovejoy replied yes, there are definitions regarding seasonal and sidewalk vendors as well as mobile food courts. Council Member Walker moved to table Amendment to Ordinance No 1029 and Ordinance No 707, Rexburg Municipal Code Chapter 6.1 and Chapter 6.2 to Clarify Business Registration Requirements for Solicitors, Mobile Vendors, and Street and Sidewalk Vendors as well as Removing All Land Use Regulations and Referring them to the Rexburg Development Code Ordinance No 1200 and its Amendments. Designated as Ordinance No 1256 if Motion Passes until it can be discussed and simplified. Council Member Flora seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Johnson Council Member Mann Council Member Walker Council Member Wolfe Council Member Flora Council President Busby The motion carried. September 15, 2021, a Work Meeting was held to discuss the Mobile Vendor Ordinance changes. 5:00 P.M. Joint City Council & Planning & Zoning Work Meeting – Mobile Food Court Ordinance Those in attendance from Planning & Zoning: Greg Blacker, Vince Haley, David Pulsipher, Todd Marx and Bruce Casper Those in attendance from City Council: Council Member Johnson, Council Member Mann, Council Member Walker, Council Member Wolfe, Council Member Flora, and Mayor Merrill. Mayor Merrill welcomed everyone. He had everyone introduce themselves and then turned the time over to Planning & Zoning Administrator, Alan Parkinson. Administrator Parkinson presented the changes to the ordinance. He explained the different definitions associated with the ordinance: Seasonal Vendor, Food Court Vendor, Sidewalk Vendor, and Street Vendor.   Administrator Parkinson reviewed the benefits for Mobile Food Courts.  Administrator Parkinson reviewed the requirement for Mobile Food Courts  Administrator Parkinson reviewed the benefits for street/sidewalk vendors and the requirements  Administrator Parkinson explained that seasonal vendors need to provide restrooms, whether it be a port-a-pottie or permission from the store next to them to use their restrooms. License fees are higher for mobile food vendors to offset the impact fees that brick and mortar businesses pay. The fee is $250 per year. Kelly McKamey doesn’t agree with the higher license fees for mobile vendors. Council Member Flora explained that its like a small impact fee for those vendors to help with the impact on streets, sewer, etc. Kelly McKamey would like to see numbers to prove that mobile vendors have an impact on city infrastructure. Discussion about property owners paying impact fees and vendors also paying fees on the same property. Mayor Merrill explained the reason for impact fees. Rexburg has one of the lowest tax levy rates in Idaho, so the city established impact fees to keep up with growth. Terri Potter commented that when growing like Rexburg is, there needs to be fees to keep the city clean and organized. He likes the way the government is run here. He was a land developer in Seattle for forty years. Jessica Mortenson, Owner of Karie Anne’s said the increase for her business license is fine but for someone just doing events it might be hard. Administrator Parkinson said those temporary event vendors do not get charged the higher fee. Dave Thompson indicated that most vendors are not concerned about the fees but other things like the propane only for generators is a problem and keeping generators enclosed. Administrator Parkinson explained that those regulations were already in the ordinance, but they want to look at these types of problems and figure out a solution to make things easier for the vendors. Discussion about time lapse in discussions. The last discussion about mobile food vendors was two years ago. Council Member Flora wants to make it easier for those with large generators. She wants to make things easier for all the vendors. Commissioner Vince Haley indicated that Planning & Zoning wanted these changes to take effect by Jan 1st. Discussion about the changes needing to be published again before voting on it. Decisions need to be made regarding generators, the fuel allowed for them, fees, and restrooms. Dave Thompson is not opposed to the regulations, but he commented that barbeque vendors whose grills are not enclosed could not do business in Rexburg according to the regulations that are already in the code. Bryan Klingler doesn’t believe regulating is necessary and can drive people out of business. His grandpa had a small temporary business in California, and they finally regulated him out of business. Mayor Merrill said they are trying to make it easier for vendors. Commissioner Haley commented that they have been looking for public comment. He wants proposed changes at the next meeting and a timeline for getting this ordinance finalized. Council Member Johnson agreed that she would also like to hear more from the vendors. Administrator Parkinson proposed that everyone get their concerns and solutions to City Clerk Lovejoy. Information will be gathered and then possibly another meeting will be held. October 6, 2021, the application was taken off of the table and denied. Ordinance No 1263 Development Code Amendment Ord 1200 - Mobile Food Court - Alan Parkinson Council Member Walker moved to un-table Ordinance No. 1263 Development Code Ordinance No. 1200 – Mobile Food Court; Council Member Flora seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Johnson Council Member Mann Council Member Walker Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. Planning and Zoning Administrator Parkinson explained after several meetings to discuss the changes to the code, it was determined there are sufficient changes to deny this ordinance. City Staff will make the recommended changes and bring back to City Council for a decision. Council Member Johnson asked how long before the ordinance is back before City Council for decision. Planning and Zoning Administrator Parkinson said there will be an internal review by city staff before the publishing process so it may take about two months. Ordinance No 1256 Amend Business License Ord 1029 & 707 - Deborah Lovejoy Council Member Walker moved to un-table Ordinance No. 1256 to Amend Business License; Council Member Wolfe seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Johnson Council Member Mann Council Member Walker Council Member Wolfe The motion carried. Council Member Flora moved to deny Ordinance No. 1263 Development Code Ordinance No. 1200 – Mobile Food Court and Ordinance No. 1256 to Amend Business License; Council Member Johnson seconded the motion; Mayor Merrill asked for a vote: Those voting aye Those voting nay Council Member Flora None Council Member Johnson Council Member Mann Council Member Walker Council Member Wolfe The motion carried.