Moorestown Council Approves Change To 1-Day Transient Vendor Law

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Council gave final approval to a proposal that modifies part of its transient vendor policy Monday night.

Council gave final approval to a proposal that puts the head of a food truck in charge of background checks for every member of their truck for a one-time event with a 5-0 vote Monday night at town hall.

Under this proposal, the owner/operator of each vendor would still be required to file an application to receive a permit and obtain a background check conducted by the police department.

However, the owner/operator would, in turn, be required to conduct the background check (the same background check utilized by the police department) of employees working the event and certify that the background checks will be available on the day of the event for inspection.

The owner/operator would also be required to certify that no employees with criminal backgrounds would be permitted to work the event without prior notification to the police department and its approval.

Police Chief Lee Lieber previously said this would take some of the burden off the police department, in that it will reduce the staff needed for this task while still keeping the public safe. Read more here: Change To Moorestown Transient Vendor Background Checks Possible

At Monday night’s meeting, Councilman Mike Locatell said the president of the Moorestown Business Association said this will make the process more complicated.

He suggested in the future that council consider putting the organization in charge of running a specific event in charge of conducting the background check.

On Thursday, Locatell explained that his idea would be to have the host running an individual event pull the event permit, and they would receive a packet in which they would be required to get photo identification and a background check for any vendor that would be coming into town for that event.

He has maintained that the transient vendor laws in Moorestown need to be changed, and that it is a long process. He has raised concerns about ice cream trucks that set up in one spot near the township's brick-and-mortar businesses, instead of driving through the township's neighborhoods, as intended.

On Monday night, he said a quick online search of the term “ice cream truck drivers arrested” turned up 20 results nationwide. A similar search by Moorestown Patch turned up results for stories an ice cream truck driver stalking young girls in Upstate New York, an ice cream truck driver in Virginia being arrested for DWI and an ice cream truck driver in Georgia arrested for possession of drugs and a loaded weapon in his truck, among other stories.

Councilman Brian Donnelly, liaison to the Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC), said the committee is looking into larger changes for the transient vendor ordinance overall. Deputy Mayor Nicole Gillespie reiterated that this is a temporary fix ahead of community events later this summer.

Mayor Lisa Petriello said EDAC helped craft this ordinance. The committee will be discussing further changes that can be made at one of its upcoming meetings. It may go through a process that includes a town hall for the benefit of the public on this issue, similar to the process it went through for the parking meters on Main Street. Read more here: Council Moves On Change For 1-Day Transient Vendor Permits