Atwater to welcome food trucks ‘out of the shadows’ and into the city’s downtown
Hungry Atwater residents and visitors could soon have a few new dishes to try around town, thanks to a City Council decision supporting food trucks rolling into the downtown business district in the near future.
The council this week unanimously approved the introduction of a new ordinance allowing mobile food vendors to operate on downtown Atwater streets.
The decision marks a change from the city’s previous rules, which only permitted food trucks to open their doors during special downtown events.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” City Council member Brian Raymond said at Monday’s meeting. “We’re getting (food trucks) out of the shadows.”
Food truck business grows in Atwater
Food trucks are relatively new to the Atwater community, with the mobile businesses only getting the green light to operate in certain parts of the city in 2020.
The nearby City of Merced also maintained a local ban on the mobile restaurants until last year.
The businesses were prohibited due to a once-popular notion that food trucks contributed to blight, littering, loitering and illegal activity — a notion that some prior members of the Atwater City Council also held before leaders changed the rules in 2020.
Food trucks have since become common in cities throughout the country, offering novel and trendy dining options in addition to traditional brick-and-mortar businesses.
Talks of bringing food trucks to Atwater buzzed for years before city leaders made a move, but a local ordinance blocked the businesses from opening until the council agreed to change the rules in late 2019. Raymond was credited with spearheading the plan at the time.
In early 2020, food truck vendors were finally allowed to begin setting up shop on a conditional basis in Atwater’s industrial and business park zones.
The popular mobile restaurants slowly expanded into the heart of Atwater from its industrial and business park regions, cropping up at a few special community events like vendor fairs, grand openings and the Old Town Atwater Ice Rink.
Since then, city officials say they’ve received multiple requests to allow food trucks in downtown Atwater beyond the span of brief community events.
The City Council’s decision this week affirmed the community’s interest by allowing the downtown business district’s zoning to include food trucks.
Raymond lauded the move during Monday’s meeting, adding that he’d like to see food trucks welcomed throughout the entire city.
For now, the businesses will be allowed to operate downtown under a conditional use permit. Each vendor will need to show their proposed location to open up business won’t conflict with other brick and mortar businesses, according to the city.
The ordinance is scheduled for a second reading and potential adoption by the City Council during the Oct. 24 meeting.
If approved, city officials say the plan will add to the character of downtown Atwater and help revitalize the area — in addition to offering new dining options to a part of the city lacking copious choices.
Community Development Director Greg Thompson told the Council Monday that the food trucks could serve to satisfy residents’ desire for more food options while the city attracts additional sit-down restaurants.
“We’re trying to do our best to revitalize the downtown business district,” Thompson said. “Right now, we have very, very few food offerings in that area.”
