INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Indian River County Board of County Commissioners has postponed a decision on new food truck regulations, extending a debate that has been ongoing since July 2025.
Commissioners voted to delay final action on the ordinance until their April 7 meeting after raising concerns about several parts of the proposal, including where food trucks could operate, parking rules and the language about operating hours.
Under current county land development rules, food trucks are largely prohibited in unincorporated areas unless they are part of a special event or operate at the Gifford Farmers Market.
Planning officials said the county’s code never established specific rules for mobile vendors, which effectively left them restricted in most areas.
“The county LDRs currently have no regulations on mobile food dispensing vehicles and are therefore considered prohibited across the board,” said John Stoll, planning & development services director.
County staff proposed a set of standards that would allow food trucks in several commercial zoning districts. The draft ordinance would permit them in general commercial areas if the property is at least three acres in size, while also allowing limited seating such as a single table and a small tent.
Stoll said the three-acre requirement is intended to prevent conflicts with parking and traffic flow at busy retail sites.
“We determined that a three-acre minimum would meet that requirement so there isn’t any conflict with parking spaces or other users on a property,” Stoll said.
He noted that many food trucks already operate near large retailers where there is significant traffic.
“We’re seeing a lot of these food trucks in general commercial areas at places like Walmart and Home Depot, where drive aisles are tight and there’s a lot of traffic and people,” Stoll said.
According to county staff, food trucks have been operating for months without formal local regulation and have not created significant issues.
“I would say that since we haven’t really been regulating food trucks since at least July, we haven’t been aware of any issues with traffic or other code violations,” Stoll said.
If the ordinance is eventually adopted, officials say there would be a transition period to help vendors understand the new rules.
Ryan Sweeney, assistant planning & development services director said staff would conduct outreach and training before enforcement begins.
“We’re going to do in-depth training internally with planning staff and code enforcement,” Sweeney said. “We also want to reach out to food truck operators and explain that these are the rules going forward.”
Commissioners said part of the challenge is that food trucks themselves are licensed by the state, limiting the county’s authority over the businesses.
“The state of Florida licenses food trucks. The county does not license them,” said commission chair Deryl Loar. “At the end of the day, we have no authority over their license.”
Loar said he believes the draft ordinance still contains gaps that could lead to enforcement problems.
“I think there are a lot of holes in this ordinance, and creating those holes could ultimately create greater issues for our code enforcement boards,” he said.
Other commissioners said they support having some level of oversight as the popularity of food trucks continues to grow.
“We do have to have some regulation to ensure that this doesn’t get out of hand,” said Commissioner Joseph Flescher.
After discussion, the board voted to postpone finalizing the rules so staff can revise the language and address concerns raised by commissioners before bringing the ordinance back for consideration in April.