Food truck illustration provided by the City of Eureka.

Eureka needs more food trucks. Everyone knows this, especially those of us who live or work near Old Town, which really should be crowded with mobile food vendors (especially ones serving gyros and kabobs with tzatziki sauce, mmm). 

Food trucks and carts have invigorated the culinary scenes in countless American cities, from Portland to Austin to Orlando. In the last decade or so food trucks have evolved from low-rent starter operations for aspiring restaurateurs to hip foodie hot spots in their own right. (See Chef. No, really. If you haven’t seen it, you should.)

The trouble in Eureka, until now, has been fusty city regulations, which aren’t overly friendly to the wheeled meal vendors. But an upcoming workshop aims to loosen the rules.

Here’s a press release from the City of Eureka:

Whether it’s a food festival, lunch on the street, a late night taco at bar-closing time or a shaved ice from a sidewalk cart on a hot day, Mobile Food Facilities are growing in popularity throughout the nation. Commonly known as “Food Trucks,” Mobile Food Facilities are mini-restaurants, mini-coffee shops, and other mini-food-serving businesses that operate within trucks, carts, trailers, and other mobile facilities.

Currently, Mobile Food Facilities are very restricted in Eureka due to existing City regulations. Eureka’s Development Services Department has begun to explore ways to change how the City regulates these small mobile businesses. Preliminary research shows that there are a number of ways to regulate food trucks, with each municipality in the state approaching the topic in different ways. Since food trucks are a new concept for some in Eureka, the City of Eureka is inviting the public to participate in a workshop on January 7, 2016, at the Wharfinger Building, 1 Marina Way, at 6 pm.

The City is seeking feedback from prospective food truck operators, owners of existing restaurants, and anyone interested in providing feedback regarding how the City should formulate the new regulations.

Mobile Food Facilities can be classified into several categories. The first category is “food truck pods,” which are approved congregations of Mobile Food Facilities at specific locations at set times. In some cases, “pods” are permitted at scheduled events such as Arts Alive. The pod format allows the public to browse various dining options in a fair-like atmosphere, which often leads to more business for nearby brick-and-mortar businesses on the surrounding streets. Both stand-alone food truck pods and those associated with special events have been very successful, and are a regular feature of community calendars in various locations across the state.

The second category of Mobile Food Facilities are “Curb-side Mobile Food Facilities” (a.k.a. “On-street Vendors”) which are single mobile food businesses that temporarily park in curb-side parking areas for a few hours at a time. The third category is “Off Street Vendors,” which drive onto private property each day and then leave the site each day.

City Staff will be facilitating the workshop on January 7th to hear thoughts, ideas, and concerns about food truck pods, on-street and off-street vending, traffic safety, parking, locations of operation, hours of operation, and existing uses that may require buffers (e.g. schools).

In addition to the general public, restaurant and bar owners, small business development, and food related organizations are encouraged to attend. The workshop will be informal and the goal is to gather ideas for regulating food trucks in the City of Eureka. Comments can be submitted in writing before the workshop to Assistant Planner Brian Heaton at bheaton@ci.eureka.ca.gov, or contact the Development Services Department at 441-4160 if you have questions.