Perham City Council approves food truck ordinance, map in 4-1 vote

A 4–1 Perham City Council vote approved an amendment to the city’s Peddlers & Solicitors ordinance to explicitly regulate Mobile Food Units and separately adopted a resolution mapping allowable public spaces for food trucks, with Councilman Tim Fresonke the only member to vote no on either measure. Perham Administrator Jon Smith presented the proposal to council members, and the change was developed and recommended by the city’s Planning Commission.

Perham Administrator Jon Smith explained the application path for operators: registration at City Hall and issuance of a city permit, with city staff verifying that each mobile food unit is licensed by the Minnesota Department of Health and meets state regulations. The adopted ordinance sets the mobile food unit license term at one year and restricts a truck’s time at a single location to no more than five consecutive days. The ordinance also limits operation to business and industrial districts, while including caveats for ice cream trucks.

City meeting minutes from June 25, 2024 show the draft Food Truck Ordinance had been vetted through the Economic Development Authority and Park & Recreation Board before coming to council. Those minutes record that Jonathan Smith presented the draft, noting food trucks were previously “restricted unless preapproved” and that the city was “looking to create an application or registration of some sort” if compliance requirements were met. Park & Rec attendance on that date included Eric Spencer, Darren Newville, Carol Rethemeier and Stephanie Jorgenson; the meeting record shows Mayor Meehl adjourned the meeting and Heather Hoeft signed minutes as clerk.

Councilman Tim Fresonke stated his opposition to both the ordinance amendment and the map because he wanted additional review time. Fresonke asked for more time to consider and review the plan to see if the process could be more efficient and to examine the areas that would allow a food truck and the setback regulations stipulated in the ordinance. His “no” votes were recorded on both the ordinance amendment and the resolution adopting the map.

The material made public with the council action describes permitting requirements, setback rules and designated zones but does not include numeric setback distances, a reproduction of the map with parcel boundaries, a fee schedule or enforcement penalty amounts. The council’s two votes were taken at the meeting preceding this report; the ordinance language and the adopted resolution will be filed with city records and implemented through the registration and verification process at City Hall administered by Jonathan Smith and city staff.