The City of Waterloo has agreed to pilot a two-year program that will open up outdoor vending in the City to food trucks.  Spearheaded by Councillor Melissa Durrell, the Council wants to see a greater variety of foods available in the city.

On April 2nd, in the same meeting at which the Roundtable successfully argued for changes to food policies in the City's Official Plan, City staff presented Council with a number of options to enable the operation of food trucks in Waterloo.  The option Council selected was to exempt food trucks from the provisions of the existing outdoor vending by-law, and to ask staff to report back to Council by June 25th with details on what "minimal" restrictions and licensing fees should apply to food trucks. The provisions would be in place for 2012 and 2013, and re-evaluated at that time.

Read the five-page staff report to Council on page 40 this agenda packet:

http://www.waterloo.ca/Portals/57ad7180-c5e7-49f5-b282-c6475cdb7ee7/CS_CLERKS_Minutes_2012/20120402_Packet_Special_Council_Meeting.pdf

The Waterloo Chronicle covered this story on April 11: http://www.waterloochronicle.ca/news/more-street-meat-on-menu-in-uptown-this-year/.