- November 7, 2025
Palm Coast residents and TropiSoul Kitchen owners Enock Elisme and his wife Carty Caprice have only been operating their food truck in Palm Coast for the last four months.
The two typically camp out for lunch at Sizemore Welding in Bunnell. Coming to Palm Coast and starting a food truck, the two said they very quickly learned that Palm Coast was very restrictive on food truck use.
“If we didn't connect with somebody that is parked on the other side [of Sizemore], we wouldn't know where to even go,” Enock Elisme said.
But the Palm Coast City Council is looking to change that.
At its Oct. 28 workshop meeting, the council heard the first iteration of an ordinance that would allow some more access for food trucks, though the proposal was more geared toward building a “food truck park” than allowing the daily use of food trucks in Palm Coast.
For some food truck vendors in attendance, the proposal not only missed the mark but felt like “overreach.”
“The lack of knowledge of the industry and what's required is astounding,” one man said.
THE CURRENT REQUIREMENTS
By Florida State Statute, municipalities are not allowed to entirely prohibit the use of food trucks, which are permitted and regulated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Palm Coast currently allows food trucks to operate within city limits only with special event permits, which satisfies the legal requirement, Community Development’s Michael Hanson said. Vendors have to pay for the permit and are restricted to where the event is and the time outlined in the permits.
For over a decade, Palm Coast has hosted a monthly Food Truck Tuesdays at Central Park in Town Center. The city uses the event to promote local nonprofits.
With the increased popularity of food trucks over the years, Hanson said, more and more “rogue” food trucks have popped up around the city.
Not all vendors brave Palm Coast’s city limits. With the restrictions in Palm Coast, vendors have to shift for themselves outside of city limits, often ending up grouped in several locations. Elisme said there are typically three food trucks that work out of the welder’s building parking lot where TropiSoul is parked.
“We have a lot of food trucks congested in this one location,” he said. “So if Palm Coast were to be open to that, we could kind of spread around the city.”
Elisme said that he has spoken to multiple Palm Coast business owners. They have told him they would like to see food truck vendors park in their parking lots.
“Some of the business owners are willing and open to have us,” he said. “But because Palm Coast is not willing to give us that opportunity to sweat around the city, we just can't.”
THE PROPOSAL
The city’s proposal was far from geared to the daily use of food trucks, though. Typically, food trucks move around cities, going to different locations daily, sometimes multiple times a day.
The proposed ordinance outlined restrictions for the creation of so-called “food truck parks,” broad slabs of impervious concrete where its primary use is as a space for mobile food vendors. The restrictions include buffer requirements from parking spaces and driving aisles.
“We're just looking at making sure that we have the minimum safety buffers to make sure that people are driving through where customers are queueing or snacking.” Hanson said.
It also identified five public parks or spaces that could be used by food trucks: Seminole Woods Park, The Stage at Town Center, Ralph Carter Park Holland Park and Indian Trails Sports Complex.
“It was the intent of the ad hoc committee to stay away from an accessory use in COM 2 and COM 3, so that way it would not directly compete with our brick and mortar restaurant stores that are buildings, that are paying impact fees and property taxes," Hanson said.
The proposed ordinance, however, also applied similar requirements to local businesses that wanted to allow food trucks on their parking lots. The businesses would need to apply for a site plan application and meet similar requirements – five feet buffers from parking lots and driving aisles and pouring concrete slab – instead of just allowing food trucks to park in a business’ lot.
“I think the intent of this missed the mark,” Vice Mayor Theresa Carli Pontieri said.
Mayor Mike Norris agreed. In a hypothetical situation, he pointed out that if a Home Depot wanted vendors, it would have to go through the application process, which would cost the businesses and eventually the vendors money.
When asked how much it would cost to go through the application process, Hanson said, “ballpark, you're looking at probably a few thousand or so.”
“I think we’re missing the forest for the trees,” he said. “It’s a bit cumbersome."
THE NEXT STEPS?
But the council wants to address the food truck issue, “yesterday,” Pontieri said.
After some discussion, Hanson was directed to review the permit fees and a reservation system; it was also requested that the food trucks not just be allowed on certain parks, but also on land zoned commercial 1 and 2 and Industrial 1 land.
“I do find that particularly in industrial parks, there can tend to be a dearth of lunch places for folks to go,” she said. “So, having the ability of a food truck, provide that might be useful.”
Pontieri also said that whatever the council did it would need to be fair across the board, whether that is allowing properties to rent and take up parking spaces or not. If the Big Red Bus – a traveling blood donation bus – can take up parking spaces at Walmart, she said, why can’t food trucks?
Once Hanson has made the revisions, the item will go to the Palm Coast Planning Board in November and, if approved, return to the Palm Coast Council for first and second readings in December.
In the meantime, Elisme is still located at Sizemore Welding in Bunnell for lunch, typically beside other food truck vendors, all trying to support themselves.
“Some days are good,” he said. “Some days are bad.”
