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INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No.- 7197
Page I of 2
to)?? To the Mayor and Members of the City Council June 9, 1987
rEXAy(7)
Subject:
MOBILE VENDING VEHICLES
The authority to regulate food service establishments has been given to the
Department of Public Health under the supervision of the Director of Public
Health (Sec. 16-31 ) . Mobile food vending is one type of food service
establishment.
The City of Fort Worth has adopted by reference (Sec. 16-102) the "Rules
of Food Service Sanitation" of the State Board of Health (1977). Mobile
vending is a part of those rules and regulations. As a municipality within
Texas, Fort Worth must enforce those standards, as a minimum. The municipality
does have the authority to be more stringent.
Fort Worth allows different styles of mobile vendors. These range from those
that vend pre-packaged products (e.g. : ice cream bars) to the complete,
self-contained unit that does full-service food preparation on site. These
units, known in the industry as "hot trucks," must comply with all rules
and regulations to provide for protection of the food served.
The permit fee assessed to mobile vendors (all types) is $135 plus $5 per
employee plus $10 per truck. All mobile vending units must have a permitted
facility as base of operation (commissary). This facility is necessary to
provide for dumping of waste, clean-up of the unit and re-stocking of supplies.
This commissary is also permitted, if located within Fort Worth, at the same
rate ($135). The mobile vendor who does not own a commissary is required
to submit a notarized letter from the owner of a commissary authorizing the
vendor to utilize the facility. If the commissary is outside the municipal
limits of Fort Worth, the vendor is required to provide validation that the
facility is permitted and inspected.
There are currently 207 mobile food vendors permitted by the Department of
Public Health. These include mobile produce vendors, snow cone trucks, ice
cream trucks, vendors of pre-wrapped food products, vendors that prepare
and serve off the unit and caterers. These vendors meet the State Board
of Health requirements for food protection as adopted by City Code.
Other restrictions placed on mobile vending are outlined in Sec 22-341/42.
These restrictions are: customer service only when the vehicle is parked;
no vending on any public street or thoroughfares between sunset and 9 AM;
no vending of any food products within 2 blocks of any school , park of other
municipal recreation facility or directly in front of any commercially or
industrially-zoned property; no vending on any streets where the lawful speed
limit exceeds thirty miles per hour; no sound producing device used by vendors
that is audible beyond a distance of 200 feet in any direction; and no such
sound producing devices used between 12:00 noon and 3 PM. These issues do
not pertain to food protection and are enforced by the City Police Department.
-ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS