Paramount : New Catering-Truck Rules

The City Council has tentatively approved an ordinance limiting the time a catering truck can park in one location.

The five-member council Tuesday voted unanimously to restrict the maximum parking time to two hours at one location. The ordinance allows a caterer to visit the same site twice in 24 hours.

The ordinance is expected to again come before the council on June 3 for final approval. It would become law 30 days after final approval.

The city has been without catering-truck regulations for more than a year, said Daniel Keen, community development manager.

A previous ordinance, which restricted parking to 30 minutes, was struck down in court “as arbitrary and having no rational basis,” Keen said.

A survey was conducted before the latest ordinance was drawn up, Keen said, and it determined “that the average length a catering truck stayed at a location during breakfast and lunch was two hours.”

The ordinance is an attempt to prevent catering trucks from conducting business like regular restaurant without going through the permit and licensing procedures.

The city has received complaints from businesses that some trucks were parking as long as eight hours in one location, Keen said.

“These trucks were parking in front of business for long periods, people would congregate, causing various problems, including impeding traffic and leaving lots of trash,” Keen said.