Canton City Council changes mobile food vending rules – Canton Repository

Canton City Council changes mobile food vending rules – Canton Repository

CANTON – The city has updated its rules for mobile food vendors to allow more downtown but only during special events now that Centennial Plaza is complete.

City Council on Monday approved the changes, which apply to food trucks, trailers and carts.

Mobile food vendors have been permitted since 2011 as itinerant retailers. Permit fees were $150 a year outside of downtown and $150 a month or $1,000 a year on the north and south ends of Central Plaza. 

More: Centennial Plaza almost ready for public use

“They’re now going to be allowed on Third and Fourth streets for special events and special events only,” Planning Director Donn Angus told the council at a prior committee meeting.

Central Plaza remains an authorized location during special events — which must be “city-sanctioned” or co-sponsored by the Downtown Canton Special Improvement District (SID), Pro Football Hall of Fame Museum, Visit Canton, ArtsinStark or the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce. 

Permits are not needed for such events, but participating food vendors are expected to notify the city safety director. Permits still are needed to operate outside the SID, and the fee now will be $250 a year.

Angus also noted a new provision that prohibits mobile food vendors in residential areas.

No one spoke during the public hearing that preceded Monday’s council vote. Councilman Frank Morris, D-9, and Christine Schulman, D-at large, were absent, and no one present opposed the changes.

The new mobile food vending section in the city’s planning and zoning code includes:

• Definitions for mobile food vending, which reference the selling of drinks or ready-to-eat food “from a commercially manufactured, motorized or otherwise mobile vehicle, truck, trailer or cart that is readily movable.” 
• A list of approved locations for vendors in the SID: two on the north end of Central Plaza, two on the south end of Central Plaza, six on Fourth Street NW between Market Avenue and Cleveland Avenue, and six on Third Street NW between Market Avenue and Cleveland Avenue.
• Prohibited parking atop Central Plaza fountains or on the lawn of Centennial Plaza.
• Set hours of operation from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• A requirement for vendors to keep the 15-foot area surrounding their business free from litter and provide trash and recycling containers for customers.
• Ice cream truck requirements, such as caution signs and no loudspeaker use while driving.

According to the ordinance, a violation could result in permit suspension or revocation and penalties for either unclassified or fourth-degree misdemeanors.

City Council also heard from Law Director Kristen Aylward Bates about proposed changes to the code regarding itinerant retailers — people selling goods door-to-door or from a mobile cart or trailer. Annual permit fees for retailers outside the SID would increase by $100 to $250, and permit fees for retailers inside the SID would be $250 a month or $1,000 a year.

A permit exemption also would apply for itinerant retailers during special events. Bates said the retailer would have to operate in conjunction with an event sponsored by the city or a community partner.

“Not just anybody else,” she said.

City Council is expected to vote on itinerant retailer changes at its next regular meeting on June 21.

Published at Tue, 08 Jun 2021 01:47:01 +0000