New food truck rules go into effect April 25
Some operators fear they will be forced out of business, are hoping for a reprieve
A new Cape Coral food truck ordinance that encourages the businesses to “stay mobile” is set to go into effect next Tuesday.
Once enforced, food trucks in the city will no longer be allowed to stay parked at their service locations overnight. They also won’t be allowed to provide seating for customers. And they won’t be allowed to connect to nearby brick and mortar businesses to draw electricity or running water. The ordinance will lay out certain zones where food trucks aren’t allowed to park as well.
“If you have wheels, you’re supposed to be mobile,” said Cape Coral City Councilmember, Tom Hayden, to the Breeze. “And this ordinance defined that.”
Hayden voted in favor of the ordinance when it was approved 6-2 by City Council back in January. In his eyes, food trucks had an unfair advantage over brick and mortar establishments.
“What we were seeing throughout the city was: we had food trucks that had permanently established themselves in various spots throughout the city,” said Hayden. “It allowed them an advantage over the brick-and-mortar restaurants that have to follow a different set of guidelines because they aren’t mobile.”
Cape’s food truck ordinance was drafted to mirror Lee County’s ordinance, which was enacted in January of 2022. Prior to the adoption of this ordinance, there were no operational standards in place for food trucks in Cape Coral.
For Retta Crank and her food truck, Tia’s Kitchen, adapting to the new rules won’t be an issue come April 25.
“Quite honestly, most everything on that list, we already check off,” said Crank of the list of regulations that comprise the ordinance. “So it’s not even going to be a change for us.”
Tia’s Kitchen is based out of the Iona neighborhood, in South Fort Myers, but they regularly set up shop at Scotty’s Bierwerks in Cape Coral. Crank appreciates working alongside breweries since the pairing makes so much sense: one just serves food, the other just serves beer.
“They provide the seating. They provide the drinks. We provide the food. And then we leave the place as clean as we came,” said Crank.
However, despite being on wheels, not all food trucks are as mobile as Tia’s Kitchen. Some have been in their current location for years now.
“We have a contract with the gas station that we’re here with and they provide the power and water for us — and the parking spots,” said Yonny Parra, co-owner of Paraiso Tropical Food Truck, at 4715 Del Prado Blvd.
One of his bigger concerns has to do with depending on a generator for all their power, as is now a requirement under the new ordinance.
“We leave our truck hooked up (to power) every night,” said Parra. “For our food. For our beverages. Where would we put all our food. Where would we put all of our drinks?”
Parra is going to try to comply with the ordinance while continuing to do business in the Cape. But he also doesn’t know where he’s going to go. He said his current location won’t be viable anymore after the ordinance goes into effect. And he hasn’t found a new location yet.
“It’s been hard,” said Parra. “We’ve been looking for places to go, but some areas are not available because of zoning.”
Lack of notice added to the scramble.
Parra said he only got word of the ordinance after the media contacted him for comments. He said never heard from the city directly.
Robert Flores, the operator of Cubamex, a family-owned food truck at the BP gas station at 2231 Del Prado Blvd., is facing a similar challenge.
“We can’t move. We don’t have anywhere to put it,” he said.
He and a small crew of employees have been serving Latin American, Mexican and Cuban food for three years at the location that is popular among workers at the Coralwood Center and numerous other “regulars.”
He pays for the space and recently invested $3,000 in a better power connection, soon to become useless as the city ordinance prohibits utility hookups and requires generators in their place.
Flores said they are good neighbors and they, like restaurants that lease their locations, pay the same taxes.
“They just expect us to pack our stuff and go,” he said, adding a rental storage facility with power, if one could even be found, would be a significant add-on cost.
“Just say I was to do it. I would have to eliminate two of my best employees. They have families as well.”
Flores added that the city enacted the restrictions without a viable solution for the businesses the regulations would affect. Saying they can move nightly is all but impossible; saying there are plans for a food truck court to be built in a couple of years doesn’t help those in business here now.
“We don’t have two years to wait to reopen,” Flores said. “We love this community, we love Lee County, we were here after Ian. We’re serving food to people who enjoy it. It is not fair to us.”
Flores said a half dozen food truck operators, some of whom have been at their locations for years, have retained an attorney to hopefully gain some breathing room as the impact of the ordinance is that they are being forced out of business.
Ralf Brookes, a Fort Myers based attorney who is certified in city, county and local government law, said Thursday he plans to appear before city council.
“We’re trying to navigate the rules,” Brookes said in a telephone interview.
“There are a lot of food trucks in Cape Coral and we’re going to need more time. We’re hoping the city can work with us to make some adjustments to the rules,” he said, adding many operators were unaware of the ordinance until it had passed.
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of knowledge in the food truck community about the rules. We’re trying to play catch up on the rules and the implications on food trucks. We’re just saying it is impractical in some aspects.”
The two opposing votes on the ordinance came from council members Patty Cummings and Jessica Cosden, with each predicting a serious impact on these local businesses.
“I did not support the food truck ordinance because I felt it was excessive to ask food truck owners to move their trucks every night, instead of allowing them to remain on property,” Cosden said via email. “Dump trucks and semi trucks can be parked overnight on commercial property, but not food trucks. This is overregulation and will harm business owners. And the people of Cape Coral will likely lose some of their favorite food spots.”
One possible solution for those food trucks that have grown accustomed to a less mobile form of business is the food truck courts that were also created as a result of the ordinance, proponents of the measure have said. The courts will allow food trucks to stay in a defined, specific space, so long as they are selected to be part of that court.
According to Hayden, land on Cape Coral Parkway where the Aubuchon model home used to sit will soon be turned into one of these food truck courts. Plans are for the privately developed court to be open by 2025.
“That will be a food truck court when it’s finished,” said Hayden. “So food trucks will be able to park there on that property if they’re chosen to be part of that court.”
As far as enforcement goes, city of Cape Coral Code Compliance Manager Todd Hoagland told The Breeze that his office’s goal for enforcing the mobile food vendor ordinance would be no different from enforcing any other code violation.
“We work to obtain compliance through cooperation,” said Hoagland via e-mail. “We first educate the violator with a warning. Then, if not corrected in a reasonable time, (we) may issue a Notice of Violation, Notice to Appear, or civil citation to the mobile vendor and/or the property owner allowing the operation.”
For a full rundown of the ordinances regulations, visit: capecoral.gov/newdetail.
To reach DEVON CRUMPACKER, please email news@breezenewspapers.com