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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – The Columbiana City Council held a second reading of its food truck ordinance and passed it with changes during a meeting on Tuesday, May 6.

The Columbiana City Council held a first reading for a new ordinance to establish standards and definitions for food trucks on April 17. The proposed ordinance came about after the council discussed issues with food trucks on Main Street.

During a meeting on May 6, the Columbiana City Council unanimously approved the passage of the new ordinance after holding a second reading and removing a clause that prevented food trucks from being left unattended on the vending site when vending is not taking place.

“The council had a good discussion at the last meeting and had an opportunity to review the ordinance again since the last meeting,” Columbiana Mayor David Mitchell said.

Council member Ricky Ruston shared with the council that he researched similar ordinances from five surrounding municipalities in Shelby County and said he found that the city of Columbiana’s new ordinance did not contain any requirements that were out-of-ordinary.

“I wanted to make sure I did my research and not just be passing something or denying something that was completely out of whack,” Ruston said. “Food trucks are welcome in the city of Columbiana. However, if they are operating in Shelby County, they’re going by the same guidelines that’s in this ordinance, so it should be nothing new.”

Council member Kim King brought up concerns over clause 10 which required that no mobile food units shall be left unattended or stored at any time on the vending site when vending is not taking place. After discussion, the council decided to strike the clause before voting on the ordinance’s passage.

The new ordinance establishes standards and definitions for food trucks and creates a series of requirements for those wishing to do business in the city with mobile food units.

The ordinance requires that mobile food units be located off the public right of ways and that units shall only be located and operated in areas that are zoned non-residential with the exception of permission from homeowners’ associations.

“The big change here is in our prior ordinance, the city council had to theoretically approve the locations for food trucks,” Mitchell said. “This ordinance takes that burden off of the city council and puts that burden on the food truck operator, in that (they) shall have to have approval of the property and business owners for each location in which they want to operate.”

The new ordinance stipulates that a mobile food unit shall not be located within 200 feet of the main entrance of the nearest restaurant during the restaurant’s posted hours of operation. Mitchell explained that the 200-feet limitation is not restricted to a straight line.

The proposed ordinance requires that mobile food units shall not occupy parking spaces required to fulfill the minimum requirements of a principal use.

“Our zoning ordinances require for certain types of business (to have) a certain number of parking places based upon the occupancy of that business,” Mitchell said. “So, if you’re a business and you’ve got just the minimum number of parking places that the zoning ordinance requires you to have for the occupancy, then you can’t put a food truck in there.”

In other business, the Columbiana City Council did the following:

• Postponed voting on a resolution to condemn property necessary for a water drainage improvement project along College Street
• Approved a resolution establishing the use of electronic vote counting devices
• Approved a resolution appointing the city clerk as the election manager