The successful "Fancy Food Truck Friday" at the Webster's complex, where four gourmet food trucks that parked in the lot sold their wares to a buzzing, appreciative crowd on Feb. 11, has sparked an investigation by county planning officials that may already put an end to the planned monthly event.
Supervising regional planner Alex Garcia said that "right now, the problem is that they're using required parking spaces." Having the food trucks occupy parking lot spaces while the businesses were still open was a potential violation under Title 22 of the county code, Garcia said. "Either you open up the parking lot, or open up the stores," he said. Garcia said that a "resident complaint" got the investigation rolling.
Of course, one of the reasons the event was held was to attract customers to the three businesses that sponsored the event: Webster's Fine Stationers, Webster's Community Pharmacy, and Webster's Liquors.
Lori Webster, one of the owners of Webster's Fine Stationers, said that she heard from county planning that, even though it was a privately-owned parking lot, they would need to get a conditional use permit to use it for the monthly gatherings -- and such permits are expensive and usually only given to non-profits. Webster's Community Pharmacy owners Michael and Meredith Miller were out of town and unable to comment.
Garcia said that the enforcement process on these kind of permit violations could result in a $667 fee for noncompliance. Whether the stores would be subjected to that fee would "depend on what the details are," Garcia said.
Garcia said that he was still trying to get in contact with the Webster's companies, and "hopefully find a solution."
