SPRINGDALE — Carrie Renson didn’t like the ice cream her children bought out of a cooler in a car.
“It looked like it had thawed and had been refrozen,” Renson said. “I didn’t think they should eat it.”
A proposed ordinance before the Springdale City Council would regulate ice cream trucks and street vendors. The ordinance aims to protect the health and safety of the vendors’ customers.
“This is about what our kids are eating,” said Jeft Harper, city attorney. “We need to do what we can to make sure the food is safe and the kids aren’t placed in danger trying to buy it.”
The idea for the ordinance came after the Springdale Police Department received complaints about some of the vendors circling through the city, playing music to attract children.
“Some of them are just a van with shoe polish lettering, a cooler and a speaker on the roof,” said Sgt. Billy Turnbough.
City regulations do not address ice cream trucks or street vendors, said Ernest Cate, deputy city attorney.
City ordinance regulates temporary open-air enterprises, such as snow cone stands, or mobile vending units, such as taco be driven from place to place, but they sell in parking lots, not in the streets.
A council committee reviewed the ordinance and asked for revisions. After a return to committee, a vote by the full council is expected in July.
A health department license is not needed by vendors when only packaged food is sold, Cate said. All that is needed is a business license, he said, and some don’t even have that.
“We had one ice cream vendor who was cited for no business license and no driver’s license,” Harper said. “He came in and got a business license but a driver’s license is not a requirement for it. He may be out there, driving around in an ice cream truck without a driver’s license.
The ordinance would require vehicles to be inspected and drivers to submit an Arkansas State Police background check, according to the ordinance. The vehicle must be clearly marked with signs or decals, display driver and vehicle permits, and an outside signal arm to warn other drivers about children possibly crossing the street.
The trucks would be limited to selling only on streets where the speed limit is 30 miles per hour or less. A customer could not stand in the roadway to make a purchase, the ordinance stated.
The vehicle could operate only between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The music played by the trucks would be regulated by the city’s noise ordinance.
Regulations on the trucks would be fine with Renson, she said.
“There are so many of them,” she said. “We’d have four come around in one hour. You’d like to know they all were safe.”