CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – Food trucks have taken center stage as city officials look to make downtown a destination for tourists and locals.

There are at least two initiatives underway that encourage the mobile vendors to set up shop in the city: one is already in action, and the other is up for consideration at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The council will vote on a subtle change in the city ordinance governing street vendors — including food and nonfood providers — that currently stipulates the city considers applications for vendors in city parks and beaches on a first come, first served basis. The proposal would change that to a twice-annual review process where vendors are awarded the permits to operate the same location six months at a time.

“What’s been happening is someone gets their permit and then they keep continuing for the next permitting period,” said Stacie Talbert Anaya, the city’s interim director of parks and recreation. “As food trucks are becoming more popular, we need to open up more opportunities for others to get involved in this business.”

She added there are some vendors who have renewed their applications for years in certain locations, which effectively stifled competition.

Find the entire article at caller.com <here>