Where could food trucks locate in Newport? Council to weigh options.

NEWPORT — Rather than contemplating where food trucks can't operate, the City Council is planning to host a public workshop on Wednesday to figure out where they could.

The main concern the council will be considering when addressing issues with the current regulations on Mobile Food Establishments will be the impact trucks have on safety and street intersection visibility for other drivers, Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano told The Newport Daily News on Tuesday.

Specifically, she said the trucks that park on the corner of Bellevue Avenue and East Bowery have caused difficulty for traffic pulling out of the nearby shopping center.

“First off, it takes two or three (parking) spaces from the public but it also makes it difficult to get out of that four-lane intersection,” Napolitano said “We’re hoping they could perhaps find another location within the vicinity but not necessarily on Bellevue Avenue, perhaps in the parking lot of one of the shopping centers.”

This has been an ongoing issue on the City Council’s plate since it adopted an ordinance regulating Mobile Food Establishments like food trucks in 2019. That ordinance allows trucks in zoning districts where restaurants are allowed by right, but restricts them to operate 250 feet away from any brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Two years later, when issues arose over food truck operations on Bellevue Avenue the council brought a draft ordinance up for discussion which would have further restricted where food trucks could operate, specifically forbidding them on Bellevue Avenue.

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In May 2021, when the draft amendment was on the table at a regular council meeting, the council decided to table the item and host a workshop in a 4-3 vote, with Napolitano, Councilor Charlie Holder and Councilor Kathryn Leonard opposed.

In a recent interview with The Newport Daily News, Holder said he sees both sides of the issue, although he admits he used to be against food trucks in Newport entirely.

“I didn’t think Newport was a space for food trucks, I just didn’t think the streets had enough space for that kind of enterprise,” Holder said. “I was at a lot of those meetings and I spoke up on the food truck regulations because I thought they lacked enough regulation, but I’m not against business opportunities. You just have to protect those brick-and-mortar buildings that pay property taxes.”

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Attorney John Boxer, who represents La Forge and its two food trucks La Costa and A Mano Pizza, spoke at the first council workshop on March 31, 2021, and pointed out the 250-foot condition already limits food trucks in the city to about eight potential spots in the city.

“I think we’ve done an excellent job running the food truck, we’ve operated for 18 months within the ordinance as written and we appreciate and accommodate the concerns of the public,” Boxer said. “We’re here for the public…we want to make sure people enjoy where they live and play.”

The operator of A Mano, Simone Ferrara, also spoke up at the workshop. He said he doesn’t see his truck as competition for brick-and-mortar restaurants because of how limited their operations are.

“There are a lot of other restrictions we have,” Ferrara said. “To take away Bellevue Avenue will hurt our business… We have created a sense of community among the people coming to our food truck.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport food truck locations to be discussed by City Council