Tomball Poised To Welcome Food Trucks To The City

TOMBALL, TX -- The Tomball City Council took the next step in creating a mobile food court in the city, hosting a public hearing 30 days after the council approve an ordinance allowing for the creation of the food truck court.

Although a formality, the public hearing was requested by the property owners to obtain a conditional use permit that will allow the food truck court to operate.

The public hearing came a month after the city council approved a city ordinance to allowing greater access to food trucks, which reversed the city’s stance that placed tough restrictions on food truck vendors operating in the city.

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Tomball Mayor Gretchen Fagan co-owns a Farmer’s Insurance Agency where the mobile food truck court will also be located, recused herself during the public hearing.

Michael Fagan, who also co-owns the property, spoke during the council meeting about the permitting process.

“As you know I am on both sides of this (issue)...this has been real eye opening for me,” he said. “They always say that Tomball is so hard to work with; you always hear the negatives, but it’s been nothing but 100 percent professional for us.”

The new hub, dubbed 403 Eats Tomball Food Truck Park, will be located west of the Depot, but still close enough for visitors to enjoy everything Tomball has to offer.

Meanwhile, a mobile food court in the city has to meet certain mixed-use criteria such as having clean out capabilities, available public restroom facilities and at least 12 spaces for public parking.

“They do meet the minimum (standards),” Tomball Community Development Director Craig Meyers said.

In recent years, the Houston area has seen an increase in food truck vendors that first became popular in Austin before seeing growth in other mostly urban markets, such as Houston, San Antonio and Dallas.

Since 2010, many of the food trucks were drawn to the trendier spots of the Houston Metro area, such as the Heights, Midtown and the Museum District, and the Galleria areas.

In 2015, the movement to other areas of Houston began with the opening of Bernie’s Backyard in Spring and Deacon Baldy’s in The Woodlands last year.

Final approval of the ordinance is expected in March.

Image:Gretchen Fagan/403 Eats

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