AMHERST — Rules governing mobile food trucks and on-street food carts will be reviewed by the Select Board next month.
With the owner of a food truck specializing in Korean cuisine requesting more flexibility in where she can park her vehicle, the Select Board Monday assured Sun Kim, of Campbell Court, that tweaks to the regulations adopted in 2013 will be discussed at a meeting in April.
“I would like to have a robust conversation,” said board member Constance Kruger, adding that food trucks can create a more dynamic quality for downtown. But she said the restaurant owners and the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce need to be involved in any talks.
Kim, who runs Sun Kim Bop, said it is discouraging to run a food truck business in Amherst, compared to what she sees in Springfield, where she operates most frequently.
“I want to come back for at least two days or three days,” said Kim, who renewed her license Monday. “When there is a big event on the Town Common, I want to come back,” she said.
Kim said the reason she is requesting changes about where she can park her truck is because she can’t always find parking in places allowed. “If I cannot have a space to do business, I cannot do anything,” Kim said.
Select Board member Andrew Steinberg said reviewing the rules should happen in advance of June’s Taste of Amherst, observing that the Chamber of Commerce, which puts on the event, has requested that food trucks be prohibited during the four-day event.
Steinberg said the presence of food trucks at busy events on the Town Common is also complicated by the nonprofits that depend on selling food at their events, such as the Rotary Club of Amherst, which offers hamburgers, French fries and drinks during the annual Community Fair.
Board Chairwoman Alisa Brewer said one possibile change is to broaden the number of spaces available.
This potential change, drafted by staff in the town manager’s office, would allow food carts to use spaces on the east side of Boltwood Avenue in front of Town Hall on Saturdays and Sundays, if all spaces on the west side of the Town Common and south of Spring Street have been reserved or are in use.
But spaces would not be bagged or otherwise reserved for food vendors, Brewer said. “This is just a possible option associated with the rules as they are now,” Brewer said.
If the regulations are going to change, the board is obligated to give 10 days notice to the public, and written notice to current lunch cart license holders.
Kim and New York Halal Food are the only two mobile food carts licensed in Amherst.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com