Myrtle Beach City Council gave a thumbs up to a first reading of the food truck ordinance on Tuesday. Now, if it passes a second reading, there will be more options for a bite to eat.
New and veteran food truck owners are going to feel the effects.
“The opportunities are just expanding in a great way. The new trucks coming in, they’ve got a lot more to play with than we did,” said The Trojan Cow food truck owner, Drew Basilicato.
Fourteen new food trucks, new areas for owners to park, and letting trucks park closer to restaurants are some of the things the Myrtle Beach Planning Commission wants to get approved.
Basilicato think it will be a win-win situation for owners who are new to the game.
“They’ve done events, and they’ve worked in the county, but never legitimately, or not consistently in the city as a permanent food truck,” he said.
If the ordinance passes second reading, EZCheezy owner Shannon Garrow, who bought her food truck in October, will get to license her truck.
“There’s a lot of us sitting, waiting to get licenses so that we can come onto the beach,” said Garrow.
City Planning Director Carol Coleman says it’s important for these changes to go through, especially for those like Garrow.
“What we’ve seen is we’ve seen a lot of young people who are kind of entrepreneurial and they’re striking out and trying to create their own business, and some people use it as a stepping stone,” she said.
The plan would also allow food trucks to set up 300 feet from restaurants, as opposed to the original 500 feet.
“What we found out from a lot of the restaurant owners was that they weren’t really threatened by them,” said Coleman.
“That’s just another way the city has shown, hey, listen, there’s no reason to start drawing barriers around businesses,” said Basilicato.
Myrtle Beach City Council will have a second reading on the ordinance at the next council meeting.
Coleman says they also plan to reduce permit fees for food truck owners from $100 to $25.
