Food trucks a little too close for comfort at St. Andrew’s

NEWS/ CITY — The downtown core’s experiment with food trucks is working well with one wrinkle.

Four food trucks are rotating in two downtown locations as part of a pilot program that will run until October, and “they seem pretty popular as far as I can tell,” said City planner Stephen Bentley.

The truck operators — Bellringer Espresso, Eats Amore, Samidges and Cat and Joe’s Pig Rig — worked out a schedule among themselves for which days they park on the street at Second and Seymour or Fifth and Victoria.

Bentley said the trucks have been busier on good-weather days.

The Second and Seymour location is under review due to concerns from the Kamloops Heritage Society about the spot right in front of the St. Andrew’s on the Square building, which caters to weddings and other community events.

“We’re certainly in favour of the concept of the food trucks,” said heritage society chair Michael Fane but he said it would be better if the trucks didn’t park right in front of the church’s front door.

“Yes, we are a downtown location and we are not a chapel in the woods but we do have a lot of use of our building where people congregate on our front steps.”

He said the sight of a big, bright food truck parked right outside the front door doesn’t fit with the type of events held at St. Andrew’s and he’d like them moved around the corner to beside the square on Second Avenue.

Bentley said that’s not possible because the trucks have to be parked absolutely level due to the cooking equipment in them. But he said the situation is under review and the trucks may be able to move forward a couple of spots into the right turn lane off Seymour onto Second.

“They need to be on level ground,” Bentley said. “We may be able to entertain closing the turn lane” while the trucks are there.

Fane said Bentley has been very cooperative in looking for a solution and stressed “we have nothing bad to say” about the City on how it’s being handled.