In the spirit of partnership, we’re sharing highlights from our sister newsroom at The Enterprise (www.theenterprise.net) to help keep our readers in Henry County and Martinsville informed.
By Taylor Boyd
The Stuart Town Council discussed a potential mobile food vendor ordinance at its July 15 meeting.
Town Manager Bryce Simmons said he believes creating the ordinance would help capture the mobile food merchants the council’s talked about during previous meetings.
The proposed ordinance would include food vendors set up in trailers, carts, tents, trucks, and other mobile apparatuses.
Under the proposed ordinance, mobile food vendors would pay a $300 annual fee or $25 per event.
“That does not exclude them from paying meals tax as well,” Simmons said.
Noting that some of the mobile units enter and leave the town quickly, Vice-mayor Dave Hoback asked if the town has the horsepower to effectively enforce the proposed ordinance.
“It ultimately comes down to this is a step in the right direction. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that we have not been enforcing it, and I think that is because we don’t have the mechanisms in place to really enforce it as we were going along,” Simmons said.
