BRUNSWICK, Ohio -- It just got easier for mobile food vendors to do business in Brunswick, following City Council passage of an ordinance Nov. 8 that establishes a section of the codified ordinances regulating mobile food service operations.
Ward 2 Councilman Nick Hanek said establishing this legislation has been discussed for a number of years.
“We have been pushing this for about three years now,” Hanek said. “It is good for the city and is something I think we had to get ahead of.”
During earlier readings of the ordinance, Brunswick Community and Economic Development Director Grant Aungst said the legislation draws from a number of similar ordinances in communities throughout Northeast Ohio, the nearest being the City of Strongsville.
Aungst added that prior to this ordinance, mobile food vendors were only permitted in Brunswick on private property, with the property owner’s permission, and for designated educational or civic organizations and events.
Since mobile food trucks normally do business in industrial and commercial areas during specific times of the day, Aungst said, the separate ordinance was necessary.
Moreover, he added, the permitting process for mobile food operations could take up to three or four months under the previous legislation. The new ordinance, Aungst said, makes the approval process an administrative function.
Several changes to the original draft of the ordinance were made by council and the Brunswick Planning Commission, including making permits valid for one year instead of 90 days; requiring background checks of business owners but removing an earlier requirement that each employee be background checked; and amending hours of operation to allow for evening and weekend events.
Mark Puente, a Brunswick native, Strongsville resident and owner of Puente’s Tijuana Tacos -- a licensed “pop-up” food vending operation -- thanked council for approving the ordinance.
“(These are) sensible changes that do make it more business friendly,” Puente said.
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