By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
ssoldan@mihomepaper.com
Ortonville — During the regular Monday night meeting, the Ortonville Village Council approved a mobile food establishments ordinance with a 7-0 vote.
The ordinance would give parameters for the building inspector to regulate food trucks within the village, as well as establish a fee schedule. Previously, there was not an ordinance. Brandon Township also recently passed a similar ordinance.
“It’s pretty much the same, minus a few village specific terms as it relates to the ordinances,” said Brandon fire chief David Kwapis. “But it’s pretty much the same as the township with the requirements.”
One of the components of the ordinance is regulating the size of signs so that they don’t block roadways or sidewalks.
“It has to be of a certain size, has to be small, supposed to be on the truck,” said Kwapis. “We do allow the A-frame signs for people to put their menus on.”
The council also passed a fee schedule for yearly inspections. Mobile food establishments would need a yearly inspection, which costs $100 with an additional $50 for expediting any inspection scheduled in less than two business days.
“We are working with our neighboring partners, Oxford Township, so that if Oxford Fire does the inspection, we do not charge for the inspection. If we do the inspection, Oxford Fire won’t charge for the inspection,” said Kwapis. “We’ll still put our sticker on it, that way we know it’s been inspected by the fire department, and we are working in conjunction with their fire department as well as their township and village.” T
The ordinance defines the difference between a food cart, food trailer and food truck. It also outlines that all mobile food establishments must obtain an annual fire inspection, a mobile food establishment permit, an Oakland County Health Department permit, and any permits required by the state of Michigan.
The full ordinance is available at ortonvillevillage.com.