There could be more food trucks in Innisfil in time for the summer.
Council passed a resolution at its Dec. 13 meeting to increase the maximum number of food trucks in the municipality at any time to 25, up from the current 10, and create a setback of 30 metres from a brick-and-mortar restaurant on an adjacent property.
Eight food truck licences were issued in 2023 out of the potential 10 available. A wait list has been utilized in previous years where demand was greater than supply.
The changes will need to be enshrined through an amendment to the town’s zoning bylaw. A public meeting will be held as part of that process toward the end of the first quarter of 2024.
The review of the current bylaw was initiated by council in June, following a motion put on the floor by Deputy Mayor Kenneth Fowler.
“When we had a smaller community, you could keep a rein on the number of trucks and whatnot,” he said at that meeting. “As we’re becoming more of a tourist destination – and it’s clearly obvious from anybody who comes down to any of our beaches on a weekend – we need the opportunity to provide.”
Staff was directed to review the regulations in conjunction with the town’s Economic Development Strategic Plan. As part of the research, a survey was conducted in the fall among the Innisfil business community. Only four responses were returned.
In their work, staff compared the rules set out by Innisfil with those throughout Simcoe County, finding minimal overlap, as “each municipality has unique parameters for classifying a refreshment vehicle/trailer or food truck,” the report to council stated.
What they found was that Innisfil was one of only two municipalities to either implement a cap on licences granted annually or have official plan policies for refreshment vehicles and one of four municipalities that has zoning bylaw provisions.
Innisfil’s licensing fee is “considered average,” staff indicated. Their findings showed Mayor Lynn Dollin that this process is not as simple a one to complete as people may think.
“This is difficult; it seems like something that would be really easy to land on but obviously the devil's in the details,” she said. “By looking through the report and how varied it is all throughout Simcoe County makes you realize that one size does not fit all in this case.”
Staff also found that six municipalities in the county limit the proximity of a refreshment vehicle to an established restaurant, ranging from 60 metres in Oro-Medonte to 300 metres in Springwater. In the recommended resolution put before council, staff suggested Innisfil remain one of the municipalities without such a setback.
Councillors had other ideas.
Coun. Jennifer Richardson, who moved the motion, said she didn’t like that there wasn’t a limit.
“I’d rather set a limit,” she said. “A limit of 25 would be a bit better … to help, protect our restaurants.”
The motion was seconded by Coun. Fred Drodge, who then called for the setback to be 30 metres, or about 90 feet.
Fowler, who first brought the issue forward, wanted to ensure businesses weren’t hamstrung by the regulations.
“You take a look at the Moon Café — they support a lot of their local business by inviting them onto their property,” he said. “What you're doing is in essence with the people that are amiable to it, you’re putting up roadblocks for people that are trying to support other local businesses.”
A compromise was suggested to specify a food truck had to be 30 metres away from a restaurant on an adjacent property – as the town’s current licensing structure requires a property owner to consent to a food truck being placed on their land – but that created slightly more confusion.
Dollin raised the issue that has played out in Lefroy previously, where a food truck is situated across the street from a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The owner of that business has voiced concerns that patrons of the food truck are using the brick-and-mortar restaurant's restrooms and sitting at its picnic tables while enjoying goods from the food truck.
Dollin assumed the wording in the resolution would mean the food truck would be in a legal, non-conforming situation and allowed to carry on with its business in the future, but it might not be that simple.
First, the town will have to decide how it defines “adjacent,” as the example given by the mayor was of a business across the road from a food truck, not on adjacent property.
But then it will have to look at those current examples where the 30-metre setback isn’t manageable.
“The current vendors that are there, some of them may not meet (the 30-metre setback requirement),” planning and growth director Andria Leigh said. “So, if we bring that forward to implement, you would essentially be making those trailers illegal, and we would not be able to issue them licences in the future.”
Leigh told councillors staff has enough direction to move forward with the process, with further refinements to the regulations to be developed through the zoning bylaw amendment process.
