NORTH MIAMI, FL – A vote on whether to regulate food truck stalled Tuesday after North Miami councilmembers realized the rule might ban the popular trucks from city-sponsored events.

North Miami city council members postponed a vote on whether to regulate food trucks after realizing the proposed rule might ban the city itself from using the popular mobile eateries at official events — like the July Fourth celebration.

Councilman Scott Galvin worried at Tuesday’s meeting that the proposed ordinance might potentially put the city in violation of its own rules.

“Let’s make sure this doesn’t shut us down,” Galvin said, noting the city is partnering with the food trucks for a Fourth of July celebration Monday Florida Internationa University’s Biscayne Bay campus.

The proposed ordinance would only allow mobile vendors to sell food products in industrial districts, construction zones where work is currently underway, and as an accessory to colleges and universities that provide a culinary curriculum. City-sponsored events will be added to the list of approved places food trucks can congregate. A final vote on the ordinance will likely take place at the council’s July 12 meeting.

The city’s largest gathering of food trucks takes place every Tuesday at Johnson and Wales University, which hosts the Biscayne Triangle Truck Round-Up. The popular round-up which draws roughly 4,000 people from across the county to their grounds at 1701 NE 127 St., according to the school.

Because the Johnson and Wales is a culinary school, the round-up would still be allowed to take place under the proposed ordinance.

Loreen Chant, the president of Johnson & Wales University’s North Miami campus, said she supported the rule as long as her school’s event can continue.

Food trucks are “the most visible and popular food trend today,” she said at Tuesday’s meeting.

Up to now, food trucks have been allowed to operate in the city of North Miami without having to pay city fees and without acquiring a permit or license, unlike regular restaurants and businesses.

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