Cat and Joe's Pig Rig was become a staple in the Kamloops food truck culture.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
April 09, 2015 - 7:28 PM
KAMLOOPS - If the long winter left you craving the street-side dining experience only food trucks can provide you are in luck, food truck season is just around the corner and the city will again be allowing food trucks in the downtown area.
A report, based on the 2014 pilot project, is expected to go before council next week proposing trucks be allowed to operate earlier and for longer hours. This includes both week days and weekends. Plans also include more vending zones, such as Campbell Creek industrial park, to catch hungry workers in between breaks, and the Tranquille Road section of the North Shore.
The project was not without its growing pains. Several vendors started off in parking lots around town because city bylaws did not allow them to be parked on city streets. With the support of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Area the city agreed to a pilot project that would allow food trucks to set up in the downtown core last year.
Sentiment expressed among some vendors was that of an unsupportive city, who piloted the project as a means to appease residents.
“We don't feel welcomed by the city but do feel very welcomed by community members, our customers and local service providers along with our out of town progressive visitors,” Cathy Obertowich of Cat and Joe's Pig Rig says.
Obertowich is also frustrated by the lack of support from local business. She feels it is unfair and unfeasible to not be allowed to sell food into the dinner hour, as all trucks were required to leave before 5 p.m. last year. She is also skeptical how opening operations into industrial parks will help expand her business.
Several vendors have said they hope to be in full operation by May, though some have already started catering some events. Pig Rig, however, will not be as visible this season as they were the last.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015