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In addition to Jordans Point Park and Brewbaker Sports Complex, Lexington City Council is considering allowing food trucks to operate in Richardson Park, even when not part of a special event.
At a work session last Thursday, City Council reviewed several proposed amendments to city ordinances, which had already been approved by the Planning Commission.
Among them was a proposed amendment to the use matrix to allow food trucks to operate within certain city parks, provided they have secured a written agreement with the city. The Planning Commission settled on only allowing food trucks to operate in Jordans Point Park and at Brewbaker Sports Complex with this arrangement, but did discuss allowing them in Richardson Park as well.
In the work session, city planner Arne Glaeser explained that the Planning Commission decided to start with Jordans Point and Brewbaker to “see how it goes” and then potentially add other parks at a later date.
Council member Leslie Straughan, who also serves on the Planning Commission, added that the Commission worried the neighbors might not want food trucks in the park outside of special events.
Vice Mayor Marilyn Alexander and Council member David Sigler both advocated for including Richardson Park as a place for food trucks.
“I would rather see Richardson Park included in the conversation than excluded, because at the end of the day, they’re going to come back and say, ‘Why wasn’t Richardson Park included? Why weren’t we included?’” Alexander said. “So if we give them an opportunity to say yay or nay, it will equalize the situation.”
“Food trucks definitely cater – no pun intended – to different crowds, and [the residents in] these neighborhoods, if they can just walk, or give their kid 10 bucks and they can just walk, that’s a totally different vibe than getting in the car and going somewhere else in Lexington or in the county,” Sigler added.
Another amendment proposed involves specialty food shops, which are defined in the city code as a shop that specializes in one type of food where “the primary client consumption is off-site.”
The definition currently has three standards for preparation of food in these types of shops: any odors from the food preparation must be contained within the establishment, the only means of cooking is by heating food in a microwave or boiling water, and no open source heat flame is to be used. The proposed amendment would eliminate the limits on cooking methods, while keeping the requirement about odor containment.
Specialty food shops are currently a by-right use in both the C-1 and C-2 commercial zoning districts (downtown Lexington and the entrance corridors on East Nelson and South Main streets) as well as in Residential- Light Commercial (R-LC) zoning districts. In addition to amending the definition of a specialty food shop, the proposed amendment would make them a conditional use in the R-LC districts.
“In those cases, we wanted to have a little bit more control while still allowing expanded cooking appliance [options] for specialty food shops,” Glaeser explained.
Council member Nicholas Betts asked if the donut shop that had applied for a conditional use permit in The Hub as a small restaurant in 2022 would be permitted under this new definition. Glaeser explained that, since The Hub is in a R-LC zoning district, it would still have to apply for a conditional use permit, though the proposed donut shop would now better fit the definition of a specialty food shop.
The other amendment that Glaeser highlighted for Council dealt with cemeteries. Currently, cemeteries are only allowed as a byright use in the R-1 zoning districts. The proposed amendment would move the use to the Parks and Open Spaces zoning districts and make them a conditional use in those areas. Glaeser noted that the parcels that the city recently purchased for the expansion of both Oak Grove and Evergreen cemeteries were zoned R-1 so their use as a cemetery is currently allowed.
Council will hold a public hearing on these and several other amendments at a future meeting.
