SPRINGFIELD, MA — The City Council will consider a new ordinance to regulate roadside food trucks through a permit process and with conditions to protect public safely.

A proposed Mobile Food Truck ordinance was presented to the council’s Public Health and Safety Committee on Wednesday, and if passed by the full council would create a committee to oversee and grant permits for the roadside trucks, such as parked hot dog vendors.

Representatives of the police, health and public works departments and of the downtown business district said they believe the draft ordinance provides a needed course of action to regulate the businesses properly.

“It looks like a hopeful situation,” said John C. Verducci III, who has operated a food truck downtown for about 28 years and attended the meeting. “It looks they are really working on it fast and looks like they want to resolve this issue.”

In 2010, the council approved a home rule bill that was intended to set guidelines for licensing and regulating of food vendors. However, the bill never received subsequent approval needed from the state Legislature and thus never took effect, officials said.

City ordinances, in contrast, do not require state legislative approval, and the proposal considered Wednesday is similar to a local law in Boston, said Anthony Wilson of the city Law Department.

The issue resurfaced in November when Verducci appeared before the council and said he was getting parking tickets on a daily basis because the home rule bill never passed. He was ticketed for having an unattached trailer in the road beyond a two-hour parking limit.

Find the entire article at masslive.com <here>