AMERICAN CANYON, CA – American Canyon officials have asked for more study of a proposal to encourage gourmet food trucks in the city after owners of existing businesses complained.

The council considered the proposal, floated by the Chamber of Commerce and city planners as a way of boosting the city’s culinary culture, for about two hours Tuesday, and eventually asked city staff to put more work into the plan.

The plan’s most high profile opponent, county Supervisor Keith Caldwell, was not present. He has previously said he would oppose the proposed ordinance to bring such eateries into the heart of town.

As it turned out, Caldwell didn’t need to be at City Hall Tuesday night, not physically at least, as considerable opposition to the plan arose both from council members and from local business owners.

Whatever draft ordinance the staff returns with, it seems likely that it will not encourage food trucks in commercial areas along the Highway 29 corridor. This idea was raised at a meeting of the American Canyon Chamber of Commerce in November, where President and CEO James Cooper talked about the value of attracting food trucks into the area to encourage more visitors to stop in the city and boost local sales opportunities.

It was at that meeting of the chamber’s Government Affairs Committee that Caldwell declared his opposition to the ordinance. As he saw it, bringing food trucks from outside American Canyon into places like the Walmart shopping center and other commercial locations would mean fewer residents eating at local restaurants, some of which have struggled to attract enough customers of their own.

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