BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The Keystone Heights City Council is bypassing its planning and zoning board to fast-track food truck rules in time for summer.
Council members met on May 19 for a workshop on the topic and agreed to model their ordinance on an existing one in Green Cove Springs.
Executive Assistant and Event Coordinator Drew Bell told council members she researched existing food truck regulations in Green Cove, Orange Park, Palatka, and Gainesville. Bell said the Green Cove Springs ordinance offered several advantages, like offering a different application process for individual vendors, property owners, and trucks coming into town for special events.
Usually, an ordinance regulating food trucks would go through the city’s planning and zoning board. However, council members, based on the recommendation of City Attorney Rich Komando, agreed to bypass the board and allow Komando and Bell to draft a proposed ordinance for a first reading on June 9. The next meeting of the planning and zoning board is on June 19.
