Only 11 days after Bill Dyck and Derek Doyle took their concerns about food truck licensing costs to Creston town council, the entrepreneurial pair got their answer.
Council held a special meeting on Friday to approve an interim exception to current bylaws regulating mobile vendors. The Purple People Feeder ice cream and hotdog truck can set up in Centennial Park through September.
“We can do a more complete review of the bylaw in the fall, but this lets these gentlemen do business this summer,” town manager Lou Varela said.
“The response from the town’s staff and council was awesome,” Dyck said at Centennial Park on Monday. “We couldn’t have asked for better support.”
Dyck and Doyle presented their case to council on June 25, explaining that under the current bylaw the fee to set up in Centennial Park would be $100 a day. They cited the regulations that have been adopted for mobile food vendors in other B.C. municipalities. Council directed staff to bring back a recommendation as soon as possible.
“I think staff did a tremendous job in making this a priority and making sure we were doing this legally,” said Mayor Ron Toyota. “We want to encourage business whenever we possibly can.”
Under the interim agreement passed unanimously by town council, the vendors will pay $150 for the seasonal license. Dyck, who owns the truck, said he thinks the charge is fair and that he hopes the current bylaw will be amended to make Creston more mobile vendor friendly.
“Food trucks have really taken off in lots of communities,” he said. “Consumers like them and they make sense if the regulations respect the existing businesses.”