Kent moves toward food truck ban

KENT – A proposed ordinance that would ban all commercial food truck operations in town is under consideration, frustrating a local crepe maker who feels the town has been hostile to his food truck business.

Following a brief discussion at the Board of Selectmen’s April 21 meeting, First Selectman Eric Epstein said he would ask town attorney Randall DiBella to draft an ordinance prohibiting for-profit food truck activity in Kent.

The proposal would ban food trucks townwide, including on private property, and would require approval by voters. Epstein noted that Connecticut Department of Transportation regulations already restrict such businesses along state-owned roads, further limiting potential locations.

The discussion resurfaced in February when Kent resident Grégoire Pye appeared before the board seeking approval for a semi-permanent location for his food truck business, Crepe Royal. Pye operates his crepe venture out of a refurbished 1980s ambulance and said the antique auto shop Motoriot had offered space on its property.

Over the course of three meetings, several local restaurant and business owners opposed Pye’s request, arguing that allowing one would “open the floodgates” and harm existing establishments.

Elissa Potts, who owns the long-running Fife’n Drum Restaurant and Inn, stated during the April 21 meeting that permitting food trucks, which are not subject to the same tax requirements as brick and mortar establishments, would be “really hard on the other businesses in town.”

“Just put it to rest,” she said.

John Casey, general manager for Kent Green, put his views more bluntly in a March 3 letter sent to the First Selectman: “The idea of allowing food trucks to come in and capitalize on local businesses’ investment of time and money seems like a slap in the face to those of us who have invested so much for so long.”

The issue stems in part from a regulatory gap dating back to 2021 and 2022, when a jurisdictional dispute between the Board of Selectmen and the Planning and Zoning Commission left the matter unresolved.

No formal ruling was ever passed, and the issue “keeps rearing its ugly head,” Potts said.

Former Land Use Office Director Donna Hayes, who was involved in earlier discussions, said the matter requires a town ordinance.

“You need to make a decision and get it over with,” Hayes said, noting that the commercial nature of food trucks raises both regulatory and competitive concerns.

Other nearby towns regulate — but do not ban — food trucks. New Milford allows mobile vendors with permits and requires them to operate on private property at least 250 feet from the nearest restaurant, with a cap of 20 permits per month. Sharon and Cornwall also permit food trucks subject to fees and regulations.

Falls Village is currently in the process of developing specific regulation of food trucks, while North Canaan drafted an ordinance and held a public hearing in 2022, but did not bring it to a vote.

Pye, who was unable to attend the April 21 meeting, said in an e-mail afterwards that he was disappointed by the opposition.

“I have attempted to contact those opposing my inquiry, but it appears there is significant pressure from established interests in Kent pushing the selectmen to prevent my operations.”