FELLSMERE — Taco Mobile, Fellsmere’s only approved mobile food vendor, will not be allowed to relocate to another site once the property owner begins construction on his own development, the Fellsmere City Council decided Thursday night.
The 4-1 vote came after lengthy discussion and debate between the council members and Taco Mobile’s owner, Javier Zamarripa.
“One way or another I’m going to prove these people wrong,” Zamarripa said outside the council chambers. He said that he doesn’t know how long he’ll have to keep the taco truck on the corner of Broadway and County Road 512.
The property’s owner, the Hernandez family, plans to build a commercial center on that corner in the near future. Zamarripa said they have not given him a sense as to how much longer he’ll have, which makes it difficult for him to move forward on renovating the house he has on N. Elm Street into a restaurant – he won’t have the income from the taco stand.
“I’ll stick there as long as I can,” Zamarripa said, and then will close up the stand and move out of Fellsmere.
Later in the council meeting, after Zamarripa had left, the Fellsmere City Council unanimously approved the site plan for the Hernandez development. An engineer for the property said construction could begin before the end of the year if the Hernandezes wish to move ahead and not delay.
The engineer, Todd Howder, added that he would suspect the taco truck would be displaced at some point during the construction.
Only Councilman Daniel Naranjo supported Zamarripa’s request to relocate his food truck to a property he owns on N. Elm Street, saying that the city has done well to support small businesses and this is a way to continue to do so.
His fellow council members felt differently, raising concerns about the 5-year temporary relocation request and Zamarripa’s follow-through on projects.
Councilwoman Sara Savage reminded the council that Zamarripa’s food truck was grandfathered into the city’s rules about seven years ago because an error on the city’s part granted him permission to open up.
Since then, several others have requested permission to operate their own mobile food stands throughout town, Savage said.
“Do you want a taco truck on every corner?” Savage asked rhetorically, noting that if the council were to approve Zamarripa’s request, it would negate the grandfathering in of his taco truck.
He is allowed to operate the food stand, so long as it remains on the current site, the southeast corner of Broadway and County Road 512, next to Garcia’s.
Zamarripa had asked for five years to be allowed to operate his food truck at 11 N. Elm Street while he works to renovate the house there into a restaurant. Council members balked at the lengthy request, as had Fellsmere staff, which suggested a compromise of 30 months.
“I need more time,” Zamarripa told the council. “Everything’s so expensive.”
He’s looking at $50,000 alone just to install a commercial kitchen.
Zamarripa said he wasn’t sure if 30 months would be enough time to get the work done.
The council questioned Zamarripa’s commitment to building the restaurant, noting that he bought the property about three years ago and has yet to make any improvements to it. Instead, he has been renting it to a family, generating income.
City Manager Jason Nunemaker suggested to the council that they perhaps make a list of their concerns and their proposed remedies so staff could go back to Zamarripa and work out a new plan.
“Five years is out,” Councilman Fernando Herrera said, “don’t even mention it.”
The council ultimately decided not to postpone the vote, and instead opted to deny the application.
“There’s way more involved in this (decision) than this (application),” Mayor Susan Adams said.
Councilman Joel Tyson, who was quiet until the end, told the council that he never liked having the taco truck on that corner of CR512 and Broadway – but he’d eat there and enjoyed the food.
But as for allowing the truck to move to a residential street, “I just couldn’t go along with it.”
