chattanooga trailer

A Taste of Argentina (image from Chattanooga Street Food)

CHATTANOOGA, TN – Chattanooga City Council members spent the bulk of their Tuesday agenda session and meeting discussing whether food vendors operating out of trailers should be allowed to remove the truck that pulled the trailer to the place where it is selling its fare.

The council voted 9-0 to approve the first reading of an ordinance related to the City Code’s guidelines for food trucks, which was set to sunset on March 20. The ordinance defines a “mobile food unit” as any motorized vehicle or trailer attached to a motorized vehicle.

The key word in the discussion regarding the ordinance was “attached.” As written, the new ordinance states that trailers should remain “attached to its towing vehicle at all times.”

City Public Works Administrator Steve Leach said during the council’s agenda session that his department had become “a little apprehensive” about trailers operating as mobile food units. Leach said he wanted to prevent trailers from “nesting” in areas overnight.

“When you start dropping these trailers, they become very permanent,” Leach said.

Leach repeatedly emphasized that food trucks in Chattanooga had been successful and that his department had no desire to “kill” any development in the market. Leach said the stipulations in the ordinance were “very specific.”

The City Council and Department of Public Works administrators will likely be in discussion with local food vendors this week to determine the best way to move forward before holding a vote on the final reading of the ordinance next week.

Find the entire article by James Harrison at nooga.com <here>