Hillsborough Town Board proposal would allow more food trucks

Hillsborough is joining Chapel Hill focusing on food trucks.

A proposal before the Hillsborough Town Board might bring more food trucks to the town.

For now, food trucks are only allowed in Hillsborough’s historic district on special occasions. But a local bar owner is trying to change that.

At a meeting on April 8, the owners of Maggie’s Hot Tin Roof asked the board for permission to have food trucks on his property.

Owner Mark Bateman said he wanted to use food trucks on a rotating basis to serve customers instead of setting up a kitchen in the bar.

Hillsborough first created its strict food truck policy in November 2011.

“This ordinance was a good start and seemed to be very successful,” Hillsborough Mayor Tom Stevens said.

“It is a very exciting and growing phenomenon,” he said.

“We are just trying to figure out how to regulate and license the trucks.”

Stevens said the board originally worried about food trucks competing with brick-and-mortar establishments.

“The hardest part is determining how they can fit in with the local economy,” he said.

But Stevens is now open to a less stringent food truck policy.

“Food trucks bring more people to Hillsborough and create a better business environment,” he said.

Stevens said a new policy would allow food trucks to be on private property.

He added that the board would also create policies to safeguard against other problems like trash and noise complaints.

Stevens said he also likes that established restaurants are generally open to the idea of having food trucks in town.

“Local businesses are willing to embrace the competition, and more restaurants equal more variety,” he said.

Food truck owners are also eager to enter the Hillsborough food scene.

“I believe that food trucks could help activate public spaces and bring foot traffic to the town,” said Paul Inserra, owner of the food truck American Meltdown, which has served in Hillsborough.

Inserra said he thought the restaurants in Hillsborough were friendly toward his truck.

Tracy Livers, owner of Olde North State BBQ, also said she would love to bring her food truck to Hillsborough if the new ordinance was passed.

Stevens said the town’s goal is to serve the larger community.

“If folks continue to support the idea of having more food trucks, we will move on with pursuing the creation of a new policy,” Stevens said.

“We want to hear from a wide variety of opinions to determine the best way to move forward.”

He said a date for the new proposal decision has not been set.

“There would certainly be pros and cons to changing the policy, but people generally seem pleased by the idea of allowing food trucks,” he said.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.