A bill that would extend the amount of time Montgomery County food trucks are allowed to serve food will be introduced Tuesday.
The bill would provide a legally distinct definition of a food truck. County law currently treats food trucks the same as all other vendors.
That means food trucks can only operate before sunset. In the fall and winter, that often means food trucks are restricted to serving food only at lunch.
County Council members Hans Riemer, Nancy Navarro and Nancy Floreen are sponsoring the bill, set to be introduced at Tuesday’s regular council session.
While local food truck vendors have said they hope for changes to the so-called “dawn to dusk” rule, they’ve also rarely seen it enforced.
The idea for the bill came from the county’s Innovation Lab at Wheaton High School, a group of students who worked on projects including the growing popularity of food trucks.
“In this case, they are addressing a challenge faced by small businesses—specifically food truck operators—in the County,” read the proposal. “They have engaged with the Chambers of Commerce, food truck operators and the Department of Permitting services to gather information and develop a solution that they feel will allow food truck operators to better serve the growing market for their product.”
The bill is also being pitched as the first use of an initiative that will let members of the public review, comment and suggest changes to proposed pieces of council legislation.
The bill is posted online with a prompt that asks users whether they support or oppose the legislation and for annotations and comments in the bill’s text.
The council will see how effective the concept is based on the amount of participation it gets on the food truck bill, which is scheduled for a July 14 public hearing.
