The purpose of the workshop is to receive advice and suggestions from people who work in this space. Not only the owners of Food Trucks, but also the business owners who may be affected by the regulations. The Council wanted to gather information and work on the draft of the rule to present a project that will hopefully do justice to all those involved, said Mayor Bovo.
The event this Monday, March 4, held in the plenary hall of the Hialeah City Council, began with presentations by Carlos Díaz, Fire Chief, and Débora Storch, director of the Zoning Planning Department.
Permissions
Yesenia Gruich, director of the Licensing Department, explained what the permit application process would look like for food truck owners. “We have created a brief three-page document where we basically ask for personal information, a business outline and a document from the property owner authorizing the truck owner to operate. The permit process is quite simple, it begins with the Department License, it goes to Zoning and Fire and comes back to us when everything is approved,” Gruich said.
“The goal of the workshop is to protect established businesses and food trucks. It is also an attempt to create security in the place where these trucks are located,” explained Director Storch.
Location
According to Storch, the idea of the workshop is to allow food trucks to operate only in commercial and industrial areas. They may not interrupt the flow of traffic or hinder the use of parking spaces in shopping centers. They will also not be able to operate within 500 feet of a gas station and the possibility of not being able to operate within 500 feet of an established restaurant is being studied.
“Food trucks will not be authorized to operate on public roads. We will also need to know where they are going to deposit the grease generated by kitchens and garbage. “We want to make sure that once the truck is removed from the shopping center or industrial zone where it carries out its activity, the place is left impeccable,” said the zoning director.
To obtain the license, the owner of the truck “will have to submit a diagram to the Zoning Department indicating the locations, the days of the week in which it will operate and if it plans to use tables.”
Security
In this context, the fire chief focused his presentation on safety and the importance of complying with the requirements created to avoid fires or dangerous explosions that endanger the lives of the public.
Díaz referred to compliance with NFPA 58 and 96 safety standards responsible for regulating commercial kitchens, the safe handling and use of liquefied gas, in order to avoid failures, leaks and improper handling.
Likewise, the fire chief insisted on the importance of using grease traps, fire extinguishers, safe and approved electrical systems for the activity, gas pipes installed by qualified professionals, the use of gas leak detectors and that businesses have a master key to shut off the gas flow in case of danger.
In his presentation, Díaz showed videos of real accidents and fires that occurred in Food Trucks in which several people lost their lives. Among them, the explosion that occurred in Philadelphia on July 1, 2014, leaving 11 people injured. “This explosion was the origin of the safety regulations of these businesses,” said the fire chief.
Inspections
As part of the process of obtaining the license that authorizes a food truck to operate in Hialeah, firefighters will carry out an inspection to verify if it complies with all stipulated safety measures, they will review the sources of electricity generation and fuel, the state of the propane system -leaks, installations, pressure testing-, the handling of solid fuels and whether the personnel employed are trained in accident prevention.
The licenses issued by Hialeah will have a duration of six months and it was discussed whether trucks will be able to operate in Hialeah with licenses issued by authorities in other cities.
Miguel Peña, owner of the restaurant “La Bodeguita” Hialeah IMG_4545.JPG
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Restaurantes vs Food Trucks
“We want to make sure that Food Trucks come to Hialeah to share with us, but everything in order,” said Jesús Tundidor, president of the Council.
“First, we want to ensure public safety not only for residents but also for those who carry out the business. Second, we want to protect the business of restaurants that have been in Hialeah for a long time and third, we want to ensure that there is a distance requirement between a Food Truck, gas stations and restaurants.”
Miguel Peña, owner of the “La Bodeguita” restaurant, is concerned about “the unfair competition” that the Food Trucks may cause and suggested that the trucks have different schedules “so that they do not affect the work of the restaurants.”
“If I am an investor who wants to do business in Hialeah and I see that trucks are not regulated, I will not open it. Because if they are going to put a Food Truck next to my business, after spending a year to obtain a license and after making a large investment, this would be unfair and is called unfair competition.”
Peña liked the way the different topics were addressed in the workshop, because “before creating the regulations, what the established small businesses in the city think are being taken into account.”
For his part, Yulisan Núñez Díaz, owner of the “The Best Tamales in Miami” Food Truck, stated that he participated in the workshop to gain clarity about the regulations they are formulating.
Núñez does not welcome the establishment of a schedule for Food Trucks, different from that of restaurants. “In the shopping center where I sell, I work during the day. “If they put a regulation on me that forces me to open at night, it would make no sense because the shopping closes at 10:00 pm.”
Additionally, consider that Food Trucks and restaurants do not share the same market segment. “Even though they are close to each other, each has their own clients. That is why there is free competition and what always ends up prevailing is the quality of the service.”
Hialeah Food Trucks IMG_4532.JPG
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More suggestions
Mayor Bovo urged residents to post new suggestions on the issue on the city’s website.
“During the next few months, we are going to work on the ordinance that may not be perfect, but we want it to be as fair as possible, so that all businesses have their space and can be successful in the city of Hialeah.”
The draft ordinance, approved in first reading, will be transformed with the suggestions issued in the workshop, it will have to establish inspections, licenses and spaces where Food Trucks can work.
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