Food trucks could be officially coming to Hernando. What to know

Food trucks could soon be officially coming to Hernando, at least in a limited capacity.

Hernando's Board of Aldermen is expected to vote at the June 6 meeting on a ordinance regulating food trucks in the city limits.

In late 2022, the city delayed the vote on an initial food truck ordinance to hear more from residents and business owners. There was concern that the original ordinance was unclear in certain areas and that it might not protect existing brick-and-mortar businesses. Last week, the Hernando Planning Commission unanimously voted in favor of a new ordinance aimed at addressing these concerns and the new ordinance was discussed at the May 16 board meeting.

What is the new ordinance expected to say?

The new ordinance, as presented to the board on May 16, allows vendors to set up mobile "food truck parks" in commercial and industrial zones as long as they are not in direct competition with an existing business. A plan for bathrooms and public parking is also required and applicants must secure a business license through the city’s Planning Department.

"In reality what this will do is limit food trucks to commercial industrial zones by conditional use," City Planning Director Austin Cardosi said at the May 16 meeting. "What it would take is someone coming in with a piece of property and saying 'I want to have a food truck park here.' You would have to come in front of the planning commission and say 'here's my hours of operation, here's what I'm doing for bathrooms' and it would be a public hearing at the planning commission to see if it's an appropriate place."

In addition, food trucks will be allowed to be set up at local festivals and neighborhood events that are sanctioned by the Home Owner’s Association up to 12 times a year. The ordinance presented to the board originally said up to 10 times, but after discussion, board members requested that it be bumped up to 12 for the future vote.

Are food trucks currently illegal in Hernando?

Food trucks were never illegal in the city, but until now there hasn't been an official law on the books allowing them either. It has also made it difficult for the city to enforce any regulations.

"Right now, there's a transient vendor law out there," Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson said at the May 16 meeting. "And unless we have something regulating, we don't feel like we can just tell them to stop. That's why it's just become the wild, wild west recently. But we want to make it legal. And controlled."

Making the regulations clearer will also eliminate some of the areas food trucks currently set up in, Cardosi said at the May 16 meeting.

"I want to be clear, what this will also do, is eliminate food trucks that you see on Commerce Street," Cardosi said. "And so, we have food trucks that are setting up and using the gray area, for right or wrong, for setting up on Commerce. If your're not located in a food truck park that will no longer be allowed."

What do existing brick-and-mortar restaurants think of the ordinance?

There was some initial concern last year that the original food truck ordinance could negatively affect existing restaurants, but the new ordinance seems to have remedied most of those concerns.

AC's Steakhouse and Pub Owner Aaron Hahn and Coffee Central Owner Tina Tatum both spoke briefly at the May 16 meeting and, while they asked a few clarifying questions, both seemed satisfied with proposed ordinance.

What will the tax implications of the new ordinance be?

All vendors in the food truck park must be issued a sales tax number by the Mississippi Department of Revenue, which would designate them as as a Hernando business. Food trucks that operate in other cities would have the ability to be issued tax numbers for each area they operate in.

"I think that's super important as a local business owner, we pay taxes here," Tatum said. "So I think it puts us all on a level playing field that city taxes should be collected and it should be a benefit to the city."

Gina Butkovich covers DeSoto County, storytelling and general news. She can be reached at 901/232-6714.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Food trucks to be regulated in Hernando: What to know