McHenry food trucks could be regulated under proposed ordinance

McHenry officials had never considered a food truck ordinance because they never needed one, Community Development Director Ross Polerecky said.

Then, a food truck began setting up this summer in a parking lot on Route 120.

“This one was using a bedsheet, painted with spray paint” to advertise its food, Polerecky said. “That is not something we want to see.”

Asa result, the McHenry City Council on Tuesday is set to consider its first ordinance to regulate food trucks. The meeting was moved from its regular meeting on the first Monday of the month because of the Labor Day holiday.

“This is somethign I have been pushing staff on,” Mayor Wayne Jett said. “They have been setting up on several occasions on Route 31 and (Route) 120.”

The ordinance as proposed would allow food trucks to set up in the city no more than three days in any seven-day period and be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., limit their locations to “areas that do not interfere with vehicular/pedestrian circulation” with written permission from the property owner, charges a $25 permit fee per occasion, requires the truck operator to have liability insurance and creates a $500 fine if ordinance is violated.

“We don’t want to have to regulate them, but when it becomes a problem you have to step in and have an ordinance.”

—  Ross Polerecky, McHenry director of community development

The ordinance also bans food trucks from residential neighborhoods unless approved by the city as part of a special event, and bans them from offering seating. Food truck operators also must show proof of having the necessary state and county health permits for operating a food truck.

It isn’t just the parking lot on Route 120 that has seen food trucks pop up. “They come into town on the weekends and have been parking in the right of way in front of businesses, taking up parking downtown by parking sideways” across spots, Polerecky said. “We don’t want to have to regulate them, but when it becomes a problem you have to step in and have an ordinance.”

What McHenry does not want to do is to “kick them out of town,” Polerecky said, but noted that the city’s existing brick-and-mortar restaurants don’t want them setting up next door either. “We need some regulations put in place.”

It isn’t fair to brick-and-mortar restaurants that pay property and food taxes to the city to compete with the food trucks, Jett added. “I guarantee we are not getting sales tax from these places that are popping up, and they are out there every single day at this point.”

The ordinance, if approved by the City Council, would not impact food trucks brought in for McHenry festivals, Polerecky said.