West Hartford Town Council Votes To Amend Food Truck Ordinance

The West Hartford Town Council voted Tuesday to amend the ‘accessory use’ section of the town’s food truck ordinance. 

By Ryley McGinnis

The West Hartford Town Council voted unanimously at Tuesday night’s meeting to ease some of the restrictions in the town’s food truck ordinance for food trucks that are an accessory use as part of a commercial property, such as the food trucks regularly seen at New Park Brewing Company.

The food truck ordinance, adopted in March 2017, originally called for the police department and health district to permit food trucks with approval from zoning enforcement. The amendment now takes the police department out of the process and only requires health and zoning approval for food trucks that are “an accessory use within the parking area of an existing business.”

Another modification ends limitations on how many days per week a truck can operate. The original ordinance limited a truck’s operation to three days a week, but Director of Community Development Mark McGovern recommended removal of this limitation.

These changes will only affect food trucks that are for accessory use and other food trucks, such as park and street vendors, are unaffected by this change. Park and street food trucks will still be required to get approval from the police department, but there have been no applications for either of those types of food truck since the original ordinance was put in place, McGovern said at the meeting.

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