Stratford wants to know what people think about a proposed mobile food vendor bylaw

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 05, 2025 12:44 PM EST | Last Updated: March 5

The Town of Stratford is seeking nationalist feedback connected its draft thoroughfare vendor bylaw, which proposes caller regulations for the cognition and permitting of nutrient trucks wrong the municipality.

Under the projected rules, mobile nutrient vendors would beryllium allowed successful 5 municipality parks: Fullerton's Creek Conservation Park, Robert Cotton Park, Michael Thomas Waterfront Park, Pondside Park and Tea Hill Park, arsenic good arsenic a fewer commercialized areas.

A nationalist gathering is scheduled for Wednesday evening astatine Stratford Town Hall, and written comments tin beryllium submitted until noon connected Friday, March 7.

Mayor Steve Ogden said the municipality wants to perceive from some residents and cardinal stakeholders, including radical successful Stratford's edifice industry.

"We privation to springiness a just equilibrium between, you know, much eating options for Stratford residents, but besides being just to existing spot owners who person invested importantly successful their eating establishments — bricks and mortar," he told CBC's Island Morning.

"We did enactment licensing fees successful spot to effort to marque definite that, you know, determination was immoderate fairness to existing spot owners who wage taxes each year, and to level the playing tract successful that respect a small bit."

The bylaw includes licensing fees ranging from $75 to $1,500, depending connected the benignant of permit. Mobile vendors would autumn into 2 categories: Class A for motorized units and Class B for non-motorized units, with fees varying based connected the class and magnitude of operation.

Ogden said the bylaw aims to found wide guidelines for nutrient motortruck locations and the support process, adding that applications volition beryllium reviewed connected a case-by-case basis.

"We evidently wouldn't want, you know, someone's offering the aforesaid cuisine arsenic an existing constitution oregon whatever. There's a fig of aspects that we tin look at."

Unless fixed peculiar permission, nutrient trucks would person to beryllium closed betwixt 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. to minimize disturbances for adjacent residents, helium said.

Ogden said Stratford developed the bylaw aft uncovering limitations with the provincial licence, which covered aspects similar nutrient safety but did not modulate operating hours and locations.

The town's readying radical reviewed however different municipalities, including Charlottetown and Riverview, N.B., modulate nutrient trucks. Ogden said this probe helped signifier a program that should conscionable the needs of the community.