ORLANDO, Fla. – The City of Orlando has been collecting data for several years regarding food offerings downtown and new business opportunities.
On Monday, the city commission voted to enforce for at least one year their new Downtown Entertainment Area Mobile Food Cart pilot program.
The program requires all downtown mobile food cart operators to have a business tax receipt from the city.
“We take great pride in our diverse culinary scene,” Mayor Buddy Dyer said.
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The plan outlines how far from the right of way the cart can operate and how it is required to discard waste.
The plan specifies the hours each day the carts can be open and prohibits the sale of alcohol.
Dyer said it was important to get a policy in wording for the benefit of the food cart operators.
“Nobody brought any food for us to test, but I guess one of the nice things going into this,” he said. “Somehow, some of our businesses were charging them to operate their carts on publicly owned right of ways, which they didn’t have the right to do. This is a much better deal for whoever was paying rent on this public space.”
The program has an extension option at the conclusion of the first year.
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