Written by Two public meetings this week touch daily life around Middleton. On Monday, Wildwood city commissioners will talk through proposed rules for food trucks, and on Tuesday the Middleton Maintenance Advisory Committee meets at Olympia Recreation Center.
Monday, Nov. 9: Wildwood takes up food truck rules
The discussion is part of the commission’s regular meeting at 9 a.m. at Wildwood City Hall, 100 N. Main St. No vote on an ordinance is scheduled. Commissioners will give staff direction, and a revised draft will come back later, according to the Gazette News report on the meeting packet.
City staff say more trucks have been setting up in Wildwood, especially downtown, where lots are small and parking is tight. Leesburg, Belleview, Inverness, and Marion and Citrus counties recently adopted their own rules, and staff believe that may have pushed more trucks into Wildwood.
Commissioners are being asked where the rules should apply (only downtown, citywide, or only on larger parcels), whether picnic tables and seating should be allowed, whether to cap how long a truck can stay on one property, and how to handle truck wraps, feather flags and other signs.
The draft attached to the packet, Ordinance O2026-67, would:
- Not apply to land zoned as age-restricted development or within The Villages of Wildwood DRI.
- Bar trucks from the downtown Community Redevelopment Area, except vendors licensed and operating there for at least 10 years.
- Allow trucks only on private commercial, industrial or planned-development property with an operating main business, with one truck permit per property.
- Set a $50 permit fee and require $1 million in liability insurance, a 30-foot setback from the street right of way, and health department paperwork for grease and wastewater disposal.
- Limit hours to the host business’s hours, cap generator noise at 70 decibels, and allow one sign of up to 20 square feet.
City-sponsored and city-approved special events would be exempt, as would trucks that stop for up to two hours, such as at a lunchtime job site. Staff reported mixed feedback: some downtown business owners want rules, while other property owners want to keep hosting trucks.
Also on Monday’s agenda: a state Clean Water loan agreement that staff say will provide $10 million for the wastewater treatment plant project, with half the principal forgiven; a $2,851,373.90 payment to Garney Construction for the Water Reclamation Facility expansion; a $370,838.95 payment for Millennium Park, which staff say is about 87% complete; and $290,160 to upgrade controllers at 16 sewer lift stations.
Tuesday, Nov. 10: Middleton Maintenance Advisory Committee
The committee meets at 10 a.m. at Olympia Recreation Center, 1210 McPherson Terrace, according to the district’s public notice. The meeting is open to the public. The agenda is available at the District Office, 3571 Kiessel Road, or at DistrictGov.org. The Eastport Maintenance Advisory Committee meets in the same building earlier that morning, at 9 a.m.
Anyone who needs special accommodations should call the District Office at (352) 751-3939 at least five days before the meeting.
Do you want food trucks in more places around Wildwood, or fewer? Tell us in the comments.