LANCASTER, PA – Lancaster city officials are attempting to draw a fine line between encouraging new business development and supporting established businesses.

And that line runs right along the edge of city streets.

The city hopes to soon begin regulating the food trucks that have sprung up in Lancaster in recent years.

As in other cities, food trucks have been showing up in Lancaster offering fare as varied as cupcakes, souvlaki, falafel, spring rolls and angus beef burgers.

But nearly all of them are not permitted under city ordinances, said Randy Patterson, director of the city’s Economic Development & Neighborhood Revitalization department.

Current city ordinances forbid food vendors along city streets in the public right of way. Only one, Urban Olive, has a permit to operate in Lancaster Square. Two competing hotdog carts also have permits to operate in Penn Square, and do so in warmer months.

Patterson, who briefed city councilmembers Monday night, said the ordinance is enforced in the city’s downtown, the Central Business District. It is not enforced in other parts of the city unless there are complaints, he said.

Frequently, the trucks park near Lancaster General Hospital and Franklin & Marshall College. They also can operate on private property, a parking lot, for example, he said.

Since fall, Patterson has been working on an ordinance revision that would allow and regulate the trucks. Those regulations could restrict where the trucks could operate and the hours of operation. They also would attempt to control noise, odor and trash created by the trucks.

Find the entire article by Bernard Harris  at Lancaster Online <here>