The owners of the Jack Frosting mobile cupcake bakery were one of six applicants to receive a permit to operate a food truck in public parking spaces and city parks in Fayetteville this year.
Courtesy photo
A half dozen mobile venders will be allowed to sell food in public areas around Fayetteville in 2014.
City officials on Thursday conducted the first ever public permit lottery drawing to allow food truck owners to set up shop in public parking spaces or inside city parks.
New regulations were enacted earlier this year as part of an effort to make it easier for mobile vendors to operate around town. As part of the new laws, a lottery system was established to allow one-third of all food truck owners who wish to operate on public property a chance to submit their names for a random drawing each year. The law states that if one-third of the total applicants results in a fraction of 0.5 or higher, the number of available permits will be rounded up.
City planners said 17 food truck owners applied for the inaugural lottery, meaning six permits are available this year.
The winners are Jimmy Whitehead (Just a Smoker – Boilin Pot), Jeanette Bellram/Clayton Scott (Best Frickin Chicken In Town), Daniel Davis (Jack Frosting), Dianne Williams, Fred Ginn and Toula Abuhamdar.
Lottery winners have until 5 p.m. Friday, May 16 to submit a food truck application (PDF here) to the city’s Planning Division. Alternate owners will be notified if any of the winners fail to apply, or if any permits are vacated before the end of the year.
The priority for choosing alternates is as follows: Hudson Sites, Rima Eirani (Order 57), Robert Chogyoji, Bryan Brandon (Wicked Wood Fired Pizza), Mitchell Owen (Nomads Natural Plate), John Moates (Blaze’n Burrito NWACC), Hayot Tuychiev (KGB – Kebab, Grill and Bread), Daniel Eldridge (Hi Country Cajun LLC), Doug Estetter, Dale Benfield (Baller Foodtruck) and Zachary Wooden.
The lottery does not apply to food trucks that operate on private property, such as mobile vendor courts, private business parking lots, or those who frequently set up shop outside office buildings.
Food trucks operating on public property are limited to parallel parking spaces and must fit completely into one space. Food trucks can only sell food from the sidewalk-facing side of their truck, and are prohibited from parking on the same side of a street directly in front of a restaurant or a parking pay station. They must also pay appropriate parking fees and move (or “bump”) to a new location at least 325 feet away every four hours.
Permitted vendors who want to sell food in a city park must first get approval from the Parks and Recreation Director, and are not allowed to work in areas that are being actively served by contracted concessionaires.
For more on the new mobile vendor regulations enacted earlier this year, read our March 25 story “Fayetteville passes new food truck laws.”
