On the June 18th agenda for Conshohocken’s borough council is a proposed ordinance that the council will consider whether to advertise. Proposed ordinances must be advertised before a vote to adopt or deny is considered.
The current ordinance limits food trucks to the four specialty planned districts that encompass the riverfront and SORA West between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. The proposed changes is to remove Specialty Planned District 4 (or SORA West) from the permissible area to operate a food truck. The second big change is that if there is an event approved by a vote of the council the regulations involving hours and location won’t apply.
The regulations were originally adopted in 2013. The language of the original ordinance generally spoke of the specialty planned districts, without specifying districts one, two, and three. So when the fourth district was created in 2017 it came under the ordinance due to the lack of clarity.
During a meeting on June 5th, when the proposed changes were first discussed, the borough’s solicitor, Michael Peters, explained that the regulations were first put in place to prohibit food trucks from the busiest section of the borough. As you may remember, a hot dog cart operated for a brief time in downtown Conshohocken.
The change may have been triggered by a food truck that recently parked along West 1st Avenue on the Cencora side of the street (pictured at top). That would fall within the fourth specialty district.
Photo: Submitted
