Cape Coral food trucks to be forbidden from overnight parking

During Wednesday night’s zoning regulation discussion, the City of Cape Coral decided that food trucks will not be allowed to park at job sites overnight, and seating areas will not be allowed.

This decision could potentially put people out of business. People may enjoy visiting favorite food trucks to eat and enjoy the weather, but with no places to sit and the trucks unable to park permanently, what’s next is anybody’s guess.

Food trucks are the norm in Cape Coral and a popular business option for people in the restaurant industry. Some owners have spent years parked in popular spots, operating without much oversight.

Those days are over.

“I’m set up permanent here, you know; this is kind of set up like my kitchen at home,” said Matt Harrison, owner of Crazy Q BBQ. “So, think of it as, ‘I got to pack my kitchen up twice a day and then reset it back up.'”

Harrison has kept Crazy Q BBQ parked along Vincennes Street for two years. He says the new ordinance will hurt many food truck owners in Cape Coral.

“I can’t take this home and park it in my driveway,” Harrison said. “You know, nobody can, you can’t… Where’s everybody going to park?”

Where to park overnight isn’t the only issue. Removing any seating areas and tents will pose an obstacle for several food truck owners. Colleen Brady only has one table at her hot dog truck, The Flying Dog, and she doesn’t believe getting rid of it will be good for business.

“One of the things I enjoy about going to restaurants is being able to sit outside,” Brady said. “We can’t have our tables anymore. I think that’s a hindrance for us.”

And with the added expense of having to move her truck every night, Brady says she’s worried about the future of her enterprise.

“It could affect my hours that I stay open because now I’ll have to actually rely on somebody when they can come and move me,” Brady said.

The new ordinance does, however, include a provision to allow food truck parks. Each site would have to provide utility connections for each vendor and have onsite bathrooms and sufficient parking. There are currently no such food park sites in Cape Coral.

“We’ve got to pack up and move every day. They’re not going to grandfather, anybody. And so, it affects all the food trucks,” said Harrison.

The goal is to establish basic health and safety regulations. Previously, food trucks in the Cape haven’t had to abide by any standards to operate.

Brady doesn’t believe implementing them now will benefit existing owners. “Cape Coral doesn’t want you to have these parked in your own driveway. So if we can’t leave ’em where we lease a spot? Where are we supposed to take them?”

The ordinance does provide a provision to create food truck parks for overnight stays. Harrison said it doesn’t help much because none currently exist in the Cape. He believes the city should have created one before voting on the issue.

“We just went through a major hurricane. A lot of people lost their house, they lost their business, they’ve lost their livelihood. And now the city has taken this away. You know, the timing is impeccable,” Harrison said.

That timing may be the turning point for small owners like Brady to close down for good. “It’s difficult. It’s, you know, doesn’t seem fair to us.”

The only exemption to this new ordinance are trucks participating in special events and operating in a declared state of emergency.