CHATHAM – Chatham selectmen are considering a bylaw to regulate the operation of food trucks in the town to answer concerns about traffic, congestion, and competition.
Town staff will collect information related to food trucks from other towns at the request of Chatham selectmen to get a better understanding of the situation before making decisions.
The intent is to have a bylaw in place by the beginning of the next summer season.
Selectmen Cory Metters said careful regulation is necessary to help maintain a level of healthy competition among vendors.
“We have to be very conscious of locations—the expenses the brick and mortar companies, the paying of rents, the employees they put in, to make it an even playing field for anyone doing anything in this town. I don’t want it to be an unfair playing field,” said Metters.
Meanwhile, Board Chairman Shareen Davis also said that the presence of mobile vendors can be a boon to local business.
“As an art gallery owner, I had art shows around me all the time, and we found those to be an enhancement to our business, not a detriment,” said Davis.
Selectman Dean Nicastro said the bylaw should specify food trucks from other mobile vendors, and should consider cases where trucks are located on public or private property, if it is operating during holidays such as Oktoberfest or First Night, and the impact it is going to have on parking.
Nicastro was also concerned with the location’s image.
“We should also make sure we don’t come up with a bylaw that allows the downtown to become kind of a honky-tonk area,” Nicastro said.
Nicastro also said there must be enforcement of whatever direction the selectmen take, citing a report where a truck vendor acquired the proper permit to vend on Independence Day, yet still faced competition from other vendors who did not go through proper channels for approval.
Selectman Jeffrey Dykens said there’s a demand for food trucks on the beaches during summer time.
“Families love it, kids love it,” he said.
Dykens said there could be a limit on permit numbers to help control the quality of available services.
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