Some Omaha food truck owners push back on daily commercial kitchen rule, as city delays vote until June

• Omaha's rule requires food truck vendors to visit a licensed commercial kitchen daily
• The Omaha City Council vote on the rule has been delayed from this month until June

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – Some Omaha food truck owners are rallying against a city rule that requires them to return to a licensed commercial kitchen every day, saying the requirement will drive up their costs and limit where they can operate.

Many food truck owners said they only learned about the rule within the last few days. The rule took effect last August, according to Alyssa Smith with Omaha Public Works.

Smith said the rule, "does require mobile food vendors to visit a licensed commercial kitchen daily."

3 News Now first reported last week that the Omaha City Council was scheduled to vote on a proposed rule change this month. After significant pushback from vendors, the vote has been delayed until June.

Harvey Halfhill and his wife, Nittaya, traded their restaurant for a food truck. Halfhill said he supports the idea of commissary kitchens in principle, but not the daily requirement.

"I do believe in the commissaries to make sure everything's up to code, but not every day," Halfhill said.

Halfhill said he worries the rule will force him to spend more on fuel for daily trips and cause him to attend fewer multi-day events.

"A lot of times they stop and say, you know what, you lose your spot," Halfhill said.

Fellow food truck owner Peter DeMarco echoed those concerns.

"The impact on my business would be time, expense, and basically aggravation," DeMarko said.

Last week, Dan Benigno, the owner and chief of The Block Culinarium in northwest Omaha, said he was in support.

"Storage space on your truck should be fairly limited. The cleaning is probably not as efficient or effective as it should be on your truck, either," Benigno said.

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