A food truck culture, whether a movement or temporary trend, has taken hold across the country in large metropolitan areas as well as small towns. Durango has several and welcomes more. Although some recent updates, specific to food trucks and outdoor seating, were made to the city’s 2014 Land Use and Development Code, the regulations deserve another look to support entrepreneurism and creatively respond to local demand.
It is first important to define what we mean by “food truck.” What we have in Durango, at the corner of 11th Street and Main Avenue, for example, with Mariana’s, Bounty for the Belly, and The Box (temporarily closed while the new owner awaits a permit), are trucks from which food is prepared and served. As with all other restaurants, to operate, they must pass health and fire department inspections, and obtain a permit and business license.
They each rent space monthly from the landowner, indirectly pay property tax and in exchange gain access to an electric and water hook-up and drain for gray water. Currently, city regulations require these “semi-permanent” food trucks to move after six months, and not just switch places with their neighbor but find another location.
This is where Durango’s food trucks differ from those we experience elsewhere that are also on wheels, do not have a permanent location and regularly drive to a park, event or catering job (where the demand is). These food trucks carry and dispose of their own water, gray water, black water and generators. Currently, these types of food trucks are not operating in Durango.
Imagine if they were. It could be fun on a hot summer night to meet in Memorial Park just up from the 29th Street boat ramp for a couple hours for a Friday night “food truck fiesta” as it is called in Washington, D.C. It could also be attractive to neighborhoods not to have to cook and have a night out at home.
Food trucks are a “thing” because they offer something different than a singularly themed sit-down restaurant. They give groups of people dining together more options in one location. And they offer an affordable, sometimes locally sourced, gourmet-to-go, healthy and quick bite that is local.
In Durango, where cooperation is king, many restaurateurs who are also members of Local First, an association of locally owned, independent businesses in La Plata County, believe “all boats rise together,” that food trucks add to the fabric of the community and would like to see them thrive.
The food trucks at 11th and Main have enhanced that corner and brought vitality to it. Though the owners may eventually learn that it does not pay to operate year-round, the city should give them a fighting chance to try. By requiring them to spend time away from their business looking for a new home and, if they find one, rebuild their clientele, the six-month limit places an undue burden on small business and should be re-examined. As well, other mobile truck regulations should be explored.
Serious Texas Bar-B-Q, Homeslice Pizza and Zia Tacqueria, now popular institutions, all had humble beginnings or pursued expansion opportunities with the help of a truck or trailer. It is in all of our interest to help, not hinder, the establishment of these emerging businesses, and a diverse and thriving food culture in our community.
An earlier version of this editorial misstated the name of Bounty for the Belly.
