Marty Gordon
The debate over food trucks versus restaurants continues in Christiansburg.
Town council is discussing a new policy which would limit food trucks in the downtown area. At the heart of the issue is concern by local restaurants and how food trucks compete against them.
Food trucks are very popular as a multi-billion-dollar global industry, driven by consumer demand and highly sought after for festivals, private bookings, weddings and public gatherings. They have become popular at several local breweries, like Christiansburg’s Iron Tree, which do not serve food.
Each truck has to pass both a health and fire inspection in order to operate. These “mobile kitchens” now rival the traditional brick-and-mortar restaurants. Virginia Tech operates its own custom-built campus food trucks and brings in external vendors to manage busy student lunch schedules.
This surge in popularity has led to stricter state and local regulations. Trucks are required to display a silver state fire marshal inspection sticker in their windows to operate legally at public events.
As many as two dozen food trucks are operating in the Montgomery County area, ranging from snow cones and tacos to sandwiches and burgers.
Food trucks, like restaurants, are also required to report and pay the Christiansburg meals tax. The exact amount is not known in showing the comparison in the two over the past few years.
It is not known how this could affect an annual downtown food truck rodeo, which has typically attracted more than 20 food trucks in the fall.
Currently, the new policy would only affect the eight square block area in and around downtown Christiansburg.
Several food trucks operate on a regular basis, but it is those that temporarily set up within the town that have drawn criticism. Council is hoping local restaurant owners and managers will bring their opinions to next week’s regularly scheduled meeting.
