Hermiston Eases Food Truck Restrictions, But Not by Much

After passing some revised ordinances regarding food trucks, Hermiston made it a little easier for this fast-growing phenomenon, but not much.

    City Council eases some restrictions

The council revised, or in the words of some truck owners, 'tweaked' the tight rules at their recent city council meeting, but the change is slight.

Originally, Hermiston had the highest regulations in Eastern OR, possibly the entire state and even the Pacific Northwest.

Food truck owners were not allowed within 400 feet of brick and mortar restaurant or other food trucks, and they had to be moved each night between 10 PM and 6 AM.  Also, they had to be painted either white or beige.  With these limitations, very few were found in the city.

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Now, the 400-foot exemption is gone, as is the removal and painting requirements. However, a hard cap of six trucks has been set. There are already 3 licensed to operate, so other vendors are scrambling to get their applications in before it fills up.

Food truck owners view it as a step in the right direction but would like to see the idea embraced more by the city.  According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, some City Council members were afraid the city would be "overrun" with food trucks.

Back in 2013, the city had 9 such businesses, with more inquiries, but the tighter rules passed between then and now reduced that number to three. Some city officials claim they haven't had an application for a truck for a long time.

Critics and supporters say that's because word travels fast in the business world, and some vendors see Hermiston as an unfriendly environment to do food truck business.