Food truck issue returns to Turlock council

The City Council finally could decide Tuesday night whether mobile food vendors belong downtown.

The debate dates to 2013, when Christopher Shaun sought to set up a trailer at West Main Street and Broadway to sell smoothies, crepes, salads, wraps and fresh fruit bowls.

The business, Vida-Vita, drew a protest from the Turlock Downtown Property Owners Association. It said mobile vendors do not have to pay the extra property tax that brick-and-mortar businesses do to help maintain the district.

The issue has been in limbo while the city’s staff did a complete rewrite of the zoning code. That document, up for a vote at the meeting, deals with issues as diverse as electrical fences in industrial zones, use of cargo containers for storage and whether landscaping requirements should be eased to save water in commercial-office projects.

The council also will hear a report on the heavy rainstorm in December and consider taking part in a countywide effort against drunk driving.

The council will meet at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 156 S. Broadway.

This story was originally published January 12, 2015 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Food truck issue returns to Turlock council."