FORT SMITH -- After months of debate and cataloging public opinion, the Fort Smith Planning Commission has voted to recommend to the city Board of Directors that mobile food vendors be allowed to operate in downtown Fort Smith.
The city directors were to discuss the issue in a study session and could be ready to consider final approval at their May 19 meeting, City Director of Development Services Wally Bailey said.
The seven-member commission voted unanimously during an April 27 special meeting to amend the city's Unified Development Ordinance to allow for mobile vendors downtown on private and public property with various restrictions.
Commissioners had little to add to the discussion. The only issue came from Commissioner Michael Redd, who questioned whether the insurance required of vendors was consistent with that required for other city-authorized activities.
The proposed ordinance was amended at the recommendation of the city attorney to require general liability insurance, which raised the amount of minimum liability insurance coverage required from what was in an earlier draft.
Mark Muhlenbruch told commissioners that he thought the amount of insurance required in the ordinance was more than most vendors would be able to afford. Muhlenbruch, from south Texas, said he was considering starting a mobile food business in Fort Smith.
Bailey pointed out the insurance requirement was for vendors who would set up on a city sidewalk or street.
Mobile food vendors were allowed in downtown Fort Smith until 1993, when complaints by the then-Downtown Merchants Association led to the businesses being banned.
Mobile food vendors are allowed to operate in most commercial and light industrial zones but not in residential areas. If the city directors approve the amended Unified Development Ordinance, the vendors would be allowed in the downtown commercial district.
The amended ordinance also would, among other things, increase the term of a mobile food vending permit from 120 days to a year, lower the fee from $250 to $150 and vendors would not be required to move when they renew their permits.
The proposed mobile food vending ordinance went through three drafts in the past five months. Monday's planning commission meeting was the fifth at which members of the public had an opportunity to offer their opinions.
"We believe the planning commission has done a good job listening to all the input" and keeping the public interest in mind throughout the process, Bailey said Monday.
In addition to opinions offered at meetings, the commission has reached out to the public through surveys. One city-sponsored survey on Facebook received almost 1,000 responses. About 86 percent of those responding said they would visit downtown to go to a mobile food court, and 76 percent favored mobile food vendors being allowed to operate in on-street parking spaces.
Restaurant owners largely opposed letting vendors operate in parking spaces their customers otherwise would use. All but two of the eight restaurant owners who responded to a survey for them opposed allowing the mobile vendors downtown at all.
A majority of the downtown business owners who responded to the survey -- 53 of 69 -- favored allowing the vendors downtown as long as they kept their distance from brick-and-mortar restaurants.
Metro on 05/09/2015