Last Saturday, the first mobile gourmet food truck to be licensed in Richmond rolled into service.
And the Street Meet truck was an instant hit when it parked in Steveston on the weekend.
"We had a line up from the time we set up at noon to 2 p.m. until we ran out of food," said Mike Carter, Street Meet's co-partner. "We served at least 250 people."
However, their popularity could be short-lived after the Steveston Merchants Association (SMA) stepped up and questioned their right to park indefinitely and trade on Steveston's busy Bayview Street.
Carter said Vince Morlet and Jim van der Tass, both SMA members, approached their truck and demanded to see their permit.
"They then put a complaint into the city's bylaws office and the officers came down and gave us the A-OK," he added. "They (bylaw officers) had absolutely no problem at all."
Nor does Morlet have a problem, per say.
The News spoke to Morlet, SMA vice president and owner of Tapenade's Bistro. Morlet doesn't deny asking Carter to see the license. "I want to find out what is the bylaw," said Morlet.
"I'm getting conflicting messages but what I've gotten from city hall is that they want to look into a pilot project to have food trucks around the Canada Line stations.
"As far as I know is that Mike has a food truck license to go to construction sites, much like an ice-cream truck."
What concerns Morlet is the potential for a proliferation of food trucks coming into Steveston.
"All the restaurants in Steveston were caught by surprise Saturday," he said.
"I don't care if one food truck is here, but what happens if next week there's another truck and then next week four trucks - when does it end?"
He went on to say: "If this is completely 100 per cent legal, who am I to say Mike can't run a business?"
However, Morlet thinks the city should put together clear, defined rules and regulations in place, such as the City of Vancouver has done, so that everyone in the food industry knows the guidelines for mobile food trucks.
"My concern is that I don't want to see 25 food trucks lined up in Steveston - no way," he said.
"Having said that, I don't want to rain on Mike's parade."
For the full story, go to www.richmond-news.com.
