Mobile Meals Coming To Downtown Prince George’s
County Council Approves Food Truck Hub For Bustling Areas
If you’re a big fan of freshly prepared delicious food being served from a variety of food truck options, the Prince George’s County Council just made it a lot easier for you to pursue your passion.
By unanimous 10-0 votes last week, the council approved a pair of Continuing Resolutions related to food trucks: CR 068-2019 establishes a Food Truck Hub in downtown Upper Marlboro, and CR 073-2010 delegates the authority to regulate food trucks from the county to local municipal governments.
The latter piece of legislation will allow the Town of Upper Marlboro to create its own regulations that work best for the town and are not written for the entire county.
“The presence of food trucks downtown will encourage residents, visitors, and employees to stay in the downtown area to get food, and hopefully take the time to shop and patronize some of the other wonderful small businesses that Upper Marlboro has to offer,” said Mayor Wanda Leonard.
“Food trucks can also bring a larger selection of food that can differ by the day, depending on the type of trucks that are in town,” she continued.
Leonard said the town’s Board of Commissioners will be working on a town food truck regulation ordinance as a way to bring more food trucks to Upper Marlboro. The Town has been working since November 2018 to bring food trucks into downtown, after a fire destroyed two of the town's seven eateries.
“This does not mean that food trucks will be an everyday sight around Upper Marlboro,” Leonard added. “We intend to allow them to operate only once or twice per week, so as not to compete with the Town's ‘brick and mortar’ eateries.”
The Town of Upper Marlboro has recently seen an influx of several new businesses so far during 2019, including the Kumon learning center, Main Street Coffee & Treats, and Marlboro Café, just to name a few. Click here for other food truck options: Eats On Wheels
According to the county’s definition, a Food Truck Hub is an outdoor area in which two or more mobile units cluster together to sell freshly prepared food. After an absence of several years, the county returned the Food Truck Hub program in 2015 to increase access to food options, encourage economic development and community revitalization, and promote innovative entrepreneurship.
The Town of Upper Marlboro thanked District 9 County Council Member Sydney J. Harrison and District 5 County Council Member Jolene Ivey for drafting CR 068-2019 and CR 073-2019, respectively, as well as the entire County Council for their support. The county’s program is regulated by the county’s Food Truck Hub Oversight Committee.
