Food trucks may soon be back in Islip

It's been a long time between visits to a hot dog truck for some Islip residents, but that's about to change.

For the first time in almost three decades, the town is going to amend its code to again allow stationary food vendors to operate at designated locations.

The town is finalizing an ordinance its five board members have all said they will support that allows food trucks to sell their goods provided they meet set conditions.

One is that there will be a two-vendor limit per each of 15 hamlets across the town affected by the ordinance. It's possible some won't immediately get two because of strict criteria the town is imposing to prevent them from becoming a nuisance and to keep the food trucks away from residential areas, state parkways, restaurants, convenience stores and other brick-and-mortar businesses that sell food. The town will also set the permissible hours of operation.

Vendors will apply to the town clerk for a permit, but the town's planning department will have the final say over the exact location of each truck, according to officials from the town attorney's office, which drafted the ordinance. Town code enforcement will police all vendors to ensure against unlicensed operators.

The nuisance factor was what drove the town in 1982 to ban stationary vendors. The town "was looking like a Turkish bazaar," Supervisor Phil Nolan, a longtime town resident, said at last week's town board meeting.

Only two hot dog trucks have operated in Islip since then, "grandfathered" in because they had the appropriate permits when the town began phasing out vendors by eliminating those without them on March 30, 1982.

Patricia Napoli, 69, of Bay Shore, began operating her Paul's Place truck with her husband, Paul, in the 1970s and kept the license renewed yearly since 1982.

"We had the truck, it'll be 37 years," she said. The couple were married 39 years before Paul died three years ago. Napoli now operates it with help from her granddaughter, selling Sabrett's finest, knishes, potato chips and soda on East Third Avenue just north of Sunrise Highway.

With a steady stream of regulars around noon on a day last week when temperatures climbed into the 90s, Napoli said she didn't mind the town's change of heart one bit. "So long as they let me keep my spot, I'll be fine," she said. "I make enough here, I pay my taxes, it's been a good business."

Brothers Paul and Joe Gartner are eager to get a permit. They have attended several town board meetings to press the case to lift the ban. They say that in tough economic times, the business is a good opportunity.

Paul, 66, a disabled veteran, of West Islip, and Joe, 58, of Brightwaters, are now working separate trucks outside the town. They want to move into their home patch as soon as the ordinance takes effect.

"We're ready to go," Joe said.

THE NEW LAW

HOW MANY Maximum of 30 stationary vendors (two for each of 15 hamlets) to sell food from set locations in Islip Town.

WHERE Business must be conducted from location defined on license. Vehicles no longer than 25 feet.

LICENSE COST $500 a year per vendor; $50 a year per helper. Vendors must meet state and county health regulations.

HOURS OF OPERATION 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; vehicles must leave site 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

TRUCKS BANNED FROM Blocking driveways, aisles or walkways; residential zones or state highways; 1,000-foot radius of any business selling food or other vendor, as well as any municipal park, beach or other property; 500-foot radius of an entrance or exit ramp to any state roadway; within 200 feet of a church or school property.