RIDGEFIELD, CT — Proposed changes to the town’s vendor ordinance that would bar food trucks and carts from setting up permanent locations will be the subject of an Oct. 6 public hearing.

The Board of Selectmen, which has been debating what to do about mobile food vendors for years, ramped up the effort last December when it enacted a moratorium on new permits until board members could revise the policy.

At the time, resident Mark McManus, who has a catering permit, had tried to set up a food truck in the Party Depot parking lot on Danbury Road. But he was forced to stop when the selectmen said they were concerned about dangerous traffic conditions and the possibility that his business, and that of future food trucks, could siphon business away from traditional restaurants.

“We were mostly concerned about the competition with the brick-and-mortar establishments,” said Selectwoman Maureen Kozlark. “It wasn’t a level playing field because of the different dynamics and economics of establishing and running a brick-and-mortar vs. a mobile food truck.”

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