It was revealed at last week’s City Council meeting that private property owners who had initially agreed to allow food truck vending on their lot in downtown Calistoga withdrew their offer, citing liabilities and local impact.
The private property location at the large gravel parking lot near the Highway 29 and Lincoln Avenue intersection would have solved the ongoing parking problems for Tacos La Fiesta food truck. But this is no longer an option.
Alex Cortez, owner of Tacos La Fiesta, has been operating the Calistoga food truck with his cousin and a kitchen cook. “We just have to wait and see what the city tells us,” Cortez said, speaking in Spanish during an interview with the Tribune this week. “We are not sure what will happen because they bring things up and they say ‘yes’ and then ‘no’ to our locations.”
The council agreed to revisit the food truck ordinance near August, seeking a timely solution to the Tacos La Fiesta parking issues, which is on its third relocation since its permit was issued by the city in October.
Previous parking locations for Tacos La Fiesta food truck were deemed unfit by the city, forcing them to relocate to other areas zoned as “light industrial” or “community commercial,” as cited in the mobile food vendor ordinance passed last year.
Last month, Tacos La Fiesta requested that the city amend its Mobile Food Vendor Ordinance to allow permitted food trucks to operate in downtown commercial zoning districts if parked on private property.
The request did not move forward because the owners of the private lot who initially offered their space to Tacos La Fiesta withdrew their proposal, according to Councilmember Kevin Eisenberg during last week’s council meeting.
“This issue of the mobile food vendors is not going to go away,” said Eisenberg. “Each of the neighbors, even the ones who are the absolute nicest, are putting up with difficulties.”
The solution, he believes, is to allow vending on city-owned property.
Eisenberg suggested the fairgrounds property the city will purchase from the county in July as an option. “It’s city property and it’s a use we can put to fairgrounds while we work on developing it,” he told the Tribune this week. “It’s centrally located in Calistoga, it has the parking need, it would have minimal impact on neighbors, and I hope it would be good for all food trucks.”
In addition to Tacos La Fiesta, two other food trucks are permitted to operate in Calistoga: El Taco Feliz on Lake Street and Mi Cocina on Washington Street.
Tacos La Fiesta will continue operating on Brannan Street, where road construction has left them with limited options. Its previous location on Wappo Avenue was considered unsuitable due to the road’s narrow width and safety concerns about visibility.
