Nearly 200 Food Trucks Plan to Set Up Shop As Birmingham Eases Rules
BIRMINGHAM Ala.
In 2014, Birmingham passed a law allowing food trucks to operate in the city with permits and business licenses. In the first two years, there were fewer than five food trucks doing business.
By the end of this year, the city will streamline its permit process to make it easier for food trucks to do business.
The permit fee will also be reduced to $200 for all applicants, down from what had been $300 or $500 for premium downtown central locations.
Already, 192 food trucks are lined up to feed the city in 2025.
“It’s quite a dramatic change,” said Paige Ishmael, senior planner for the Birmingham Department of Transportation.
“We are overhauling the ordinance that regulates those food trucks,” she said. “We’ve been working on the changes for two years.”
Previously, it took two to three months to get a food truck permit from Birmingham, she said. Next year, it can be done in two to three days once the applicant passes a fire and safety inspection and a health inspection.
Food trucks with permit decals will be able to set up for business at any metered parking spot in the city but will be required to pay for the meter and abide by designated time limitations, Ishmael said. She said food trucks may not set up within 150 feet of a restaurant, and food trucks must have at least 10 feet of space between them.
City Council member Wardine Alexander said more food trucks will be better for business for the city.
“They’re entrepreneurs,” she said. “It helps increase our bottom line as well as theirs.”
Generators must operate at a noise level of under 80 decibels. “Listening to that generator at 2 a.m. is not much fun” for downtown residents,” said Council member Valerie Abbott.
Many of the food trucks have substantial customer followings and have strong financial impact in terms of sales tax revenue for the city, said Council President Darrell O’Quinn.
“It’s something that a lot of folks really enjoy. “Folks on their lunch break expect to be able to go to the taco truck on the corner of 14th and First Avenue North,” a reference to the popular Dos Hermanos taco truck.
Food trucks vary widely in their ethnic and stylistic food offerings.
“It’s an amenity that creates more diversity of options,” O’Quinn said. “It can mobilize to be a part of special events such as the Christmas tree lighting here on Sunday.”
He said food trucks offer an ability to mobilize to provide food at special events, such as the city’s Christmas tree lighting, set for Sunday in front of Birmingham City Hall starting at 4 p.m. with the tree lighting at 5:30 p.m., which typically features about a dozen or more food trucks.
Al.com
