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Item No. 4 Meeting Date: May 3, 2021 Type of Business: Discussion City Administrator Review: ______ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Nyle Zikmund, City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Licensing of Mobile Food Units (MFU)/Street Vending Staff normally starts receiving inquiries regarding food truck in early spring. This year, we have received more inquires than usual. Currently, our City Code does not address food trucks specifically and they are handled using our transient merchant portion of the Code. Mounds View’s Code definition: TRANSIENT MERCHANT. Includes any person, firm or corporation, whether as owner, agent, consignee or employee, whether a resident of the city or not, who engages in a temporary business of selling and delivering goods, wares or merchandise within the city, and who, in furtherance of such purposes, hires, leases, uses or occupies any building, parking lot, structure, motor vehicle, trailer, tent, railroad boxcar, boat, public room in hotels, lodging houses, apartments, for the exhibition and sale of the goods, wares and merchandise, either privately or at public auction; provided that, the definition does not include any person, firm or corporation who, while occupying the temporary location, does not sell from stock, but exhibits samples for the purpose of securing orders for future delivery only. The person, firm or corporation so engaged is relieved from complying with the provisions of this subchapter merely by reason of associating temporarily with any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer or by conducting such transient business in connection with, as a part of or in the name of any local dealer, trader, merchant or auctioneer. At present, Mounds View Transient merchant fee options are $510/year, $201/month, $61/day or 122/two days. A background check is required at $18.25/person and ID badge $5/person. A copy of a county/state license is required for any food-related sales, including food trucks. Of the six other cities surveyed, one other City uses the transient merchant guidelines to license food trucks. Handling of street vending (ice cream trucks) varies amongst the cities surveyed. It appears that some of the cities that are less restrictive are thinking of making requirements more restrictive. One of the cities allows food trucks only in industrial zones but next month their City Council will be discussing allowing them in all/other zoning districts.