The American dream to start from the ground up is available to every citizen. Whether you want to start a food truck, construction company, or medical practice, people have the right to pursue their dreams.

Food trucks in particular have become an expected staple in every community across the US. Communities love the local, specialty, flavors featured in food trucks. Let’s face it, it takes a lot of heart and passion to start, and communities love it. 

However, in Bay County, the owners of food trucks do not have the same equal chance as most other business owners. Current ordinances do not allow a food truck to stay in one location. A food truck must move every 7 days and never return to the same location within 30 days.

We believe that food trucks are an essential part of a city’s development. Citizens that want to pursue their dreams and start a food truck quickly run into roadblocks that make it near impossible for a food truck to build a consistent customer base.

Take Panama City Coffee for example. The food truck’s location on Thomas Drive had plenty of parking for customers. The high-traffic area allowed people to pull in, grab a coffee quickly, and then leave. The town loved it -- until the food truck was forced to leave on the account of:  Food trucks cannot stay in one location for more than 7 days.

Since being forced away from Thomas Drive, Panama City Coffee had to let go of three employees due to the lack of business. The current laws of Bay County do not allow any way to permanently stay long term.

This petition serves to let county leadership know that the citizens of Bay County want to see the following changes:

Food trucks should be able to stay in one location, as long as they have the permission from the land owner.

We hope you will join us in letting Bay County know that we want food trucks free to do business in our community.