NEW BEDFORD, MA — Food trucks — once non grata in the city — will now have expanded opportunities to operate, another sign of New Bedford’s changing face.

The City Council voted 7-4 Thursday night to give food trucks more leeway to do business in the city.

The truck operators, after acquiring a $600 permit, will now be allowed to operate in city parks, seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and the waterfront, from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily, according to the ordinance. They must stay 300 feet away from concession stands and restaurants in parks and at the waterfront.

The trucks will also be allowed in the downtown historic district only on Barkers Lane or on private property with permission from 6 a.m. to 3 a.m. daily and the peninsula beaches from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

They are also permitted on all public city property with no time restrictions, according to the ordinance.

Previously, food trucks were only allowed downtown from June 1 to Sept. 30 from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Find the entire article by Curt Brown at South Coast Today<here>