Lake Forest Food Truck Ban Set To Be Lifted, At Least Temporarily

LAKE FOREST, IL — Lake Forest city staff are drawing up an ordinance to permit the operation of food trucks in certain circumstances after a majority of aldermen indicated last week they would support at least a limited lifting of the city's strict restrictions on rolling restauranteurs.

Mayor George Pandaleon said the closure of Market House on the Square was also a factor, with remodeling not set to be complete at its successor, Le Colonial, until after the summer.

"It really was brought to the front by the fact that our most active outdoor space, from a dining point of view, in Lake Forest is going to be inactive this summer — in a crucial reopening summer with a thousand new families in town," Pandaleon said, speaking at the April 17 City Council meeting.

"So we have the potential for being a lot sleepier than we're known for being," he said. "And we're known for being pretty sleepy."

Ald. Ara Goshgarian, 3rd Ward, said he liked the concept and agreed it will bring vibrancy to the community.

"But the devil's always in the details," Goshgarian said. He said it was unquestionable that all local restaurants would be affected if city officials move to allow food trucks.

"The big question for me is: Do we have access to sales tax revenue?" he said "It just does not seem to me to be fair or appropriate for somebody to have a point of sales that's registered in a community that's taxing at a lower rate, and they're taking business from our venders."

Goshgarian called for any pilot program to include a sunset clause to make it automatically expire after this summer and questioned whether police or paramedics would need to be called upon to enforce food truck regulations.

Ald. Ted Notz, 2nd Ward, disagreed with the notion that food trucks would siphon revenue from existing Lake Forest restaurants. He said he considered them to be an additive dining option that is not otherwise offered.

"I really see this as creating a whole new untapped dining experience in town that should not threaten the brick-and-mortar establishments," Notz said.

Currently, there are at least three portions of the Lake Forest City Code that restrict the operation of food trucks in town, according to Community Development Director Cathy Czerniak.

No selling of food is allowed without a city license and health department permit, no "transient merchant or itinerant vendor" may operate without a license and it is illegal to sell any food or beverages from any motor vehicle or cart on any public street or sidewalk.

"To some extent, looking at this language could help us set some clear parameters in place," Czerniak said. "Currently we just say 'no,' but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen."

The city has not cited any food trucks in recent years, and incidents of trucks operating illegally on streets or public property is rare, Czerniak told Patch in an email after the meeting. When violators are identified, city staff contact owners to request their compliance and usually find that approach to be successful.

Ald. Jennifer Karras, 1st Ward, said she favored the concept if it was limited to special events. Karras also recommended city staff think through a way to figure out which food trucks are the best ones.

"I'm absolutely in favor of pursuing, in a very constructive and controlled way, identifying very high-end food trucks," Karras told staff. "I don't know if there is a way to rank them, or if there is some kind of a ranking of food trucks, but I would love to have you think through that a little more carefully."

Ald. Eileen Weber, 2nd Ward, said mobile venders have provided value to the community during the coronavirus pandemic.

"I can't tell you how amazing it was for Lasker Estates [subdivision] to have an ice cream truck come every Sunday at 7 p.m. The community sprit that was brought within this neighborhood, meeting all the families with kids, was incredible," Weber said.

"I hope that that will be maybe one idea — that we'll have a designated time or event or place where we can have things that [are] not impactful to other businesses."

Ald. Melanie Rummel, 2nd Ward, called for a limited number of licenses. She also recalled welcoming an unpermitted food truck that showed up over the winter holidays to offer hot chocolate and other seasonal fare.

"I think we should go slowly," Rummel said. "Maybe it's just at special events and very limited times, because I just don't see a lot of people going uptown to buy a meal from a food truck unless you're there for some other purpose, for example a special event. And there, I think it's a nice adjunct."

Ald. Ray Buschmann, 4th Ward, suggested starting slow and building up from there, possibly only a few days a week. Ald. Jed Morris did not comment during the discussion.

City Manager Jason Wicha said last week that his staff would be draw up some proposals and present them to the aldermen for consideration at their June 7 meeting.

"Obviously, we have not come prepared with any specifics, but we're just seeking direction as to whether this is something that the council wanted staff to flesh out and pursue further," City Manager Jason Wicha said. "And it seems like there's some consensus to at least explore it."

The mayor said urgency is needed to take advantage of the summer months and an influx of new residents, mostly young families.

"The summer is here, and we can't spend all summer talking about it or we'll lose an opportunity that I think is — with the reopening and with all the new people in town — I'm not sure we're going to get another chance at doing something good here," Pandaleon said. "This summer seems to be an important opportunity for us to show some — what's the word? — some excitement and some vibrancy and some positive movement and some movement away from our stodgy image."