Food Truck Owners Speak Out at Maplewood Council

Two St. Louis food truck owners came to last week’s Maplewood City Council meeting to tell their side of the discussion. It wasn’t on the agenda, but they got the ears of the council members anyway.

The council discussed food trucks at the June 12 meeting, and though no vote was taken, four council voices came out against, and two for, at that meeting.

Last week, the owners used “sir” and “ma’am” as they presented their case, and the council members were just as courteous.

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“We are entrepreneurs, trying to further the culinary ideas in St. Louis,” food truck owner Tom Broadwell said. “We do it in a mobile, and a safe fashion. We offer an excellent product, and we’d like to offer that product to Maplewood.”

“I don’t know a lot about food trucks,” Council member Karen Wood said. She said when they had the discussion at the previous meeting no food truck owners showed, though Maplewood brick and mortar restaurant owners did.

“That led me to believe they’re really not all that interested,” Wood said. “Who shows up, that’s what gets our attention.”

Broadwell told Wood, like every small business owner they work long hours, which kept them from knowing about the council meeting when the discussion took place.

Another food truck owner, Nick Cowlen, said he owns an apartment building in Maplewood, and the downtown restaurants are a selling point for potential renters, so he doesn’t want to hurt the restaurants.

“It’s been shown from other events we’ve done, that when people come, they walk, they spend money at retail stores and they’ll see the other restaurants that maybe they wouldn’t have before, and come back to the , or …,” he said.

Council member Barry Greenberg said it would make a difference to him if the Maplewood restaurants weren’t against food trucks. He suggested they talk to the Maplewood Chamber of Commerce. He also said an introductory situation to try food trucks out would help him decide.

Council member David Cerven told Broadwell and Cowen to pay attention to announcements in the future, because it could come up again in the council.

Also on Patch about food trucks: