SOMERVILLE, MA – The Somerville Board of Aldermen on Oct. 25 passed an ordinance to regulate the operations of food trucks in the city.

The debate to write an ordinance began approximately eight months ago and brought to the Board’s attention that the city had no rules in place for food trucks, according to Ward 7 Alderman Bob Trane.

Potential food trucks in Somerville must now comply with requirements outlined by the Board and submit an application for a license, according to Alderman at Large Bill White. Food trucks must also undergo a public hearing with the Board, which will look at a number of factors before issuing approval, including the location that the food truck applies to be stationed at, health and safety standards and business hours.

Each food truck will be reviewed on a case?by?case basis, Trane said.

Until the passage of the ordinance, food trucks were allowed to operate at any time or location, Trane said. The Board now has more of a say in where food trucks may go and their hours of operation, according to Ward 4 Alderman TonyLafuente.

For example, food trucks now are not allowed to operate outside the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. unless the owners receive a special permit. In addition, food trucks must remain in one location and are prohibited from moving around, Trane said.

“They can’t keep bouncing all over the place or go willy?nilly in a different spot,” he told the Daily.

Food trucks must also conform to health and safety requirements before receiving a license, White said.

Lafuente added that the Board of Aldermen seeks to avoid complaints about generator noises and food smells.

“We’re going to control as much as we can,” he said.

Click the link to find the entire about Somerville Ordinance Regulating Food Trucks article by Hunter Ryan at the Tufts Daily.