More food trucks could be on the way to Islip under town proposal

Islip officials, sensing an increased appetite for food trucks, are weighing whether to allow more of them to operate in town.

A proposal before the town board would allow 15 additional trucks — roughly 41% more — to operate within the town's borders.  

Islip currently allows 37 “peddler” permits that let food trucks sell snacks and drinks at a fixed location. Those permits are tied to hamlets that have a maximum food truck allowance, ranging from two in places such as Bayport to five in Brentwood. Not every hamlet has peddler permits under the current policy. 

A town proposal would boost the number of food truck permits to 52 while more than doubling the number of permits allowed in hamlets such as Central Islip and Bay Shore. The plan also would allow, for the first time, a coffee peddler to set up shop in Fire Island’s Fair Harbor hamlet.

The change, according to Islip’s proposal, is designed to meet a “growing demand” for food trucks in the community and update town rules that some officials said are out of date.

Islip Town officials are expected to vote on the proposal after a public hearing on Tuesday.

“You’ll see food trucks being a lot more prevalent in this day and age,” Councilman James O’Connor said. “There are a lot of reasons for it. I think my children’s generation … are perfectly comfortable with getting their food from food trucks. They actually like the idea.”

'Times change'

O’Connor cited events at places like Tanger Outlet mall in Deer Park — in the neighboring Town of Babylon — where “they have 30 to 40 food trucks and you can get a whole variety of whatever it is you want to order. It’s become a popular thing.”

He called the code "archaic" in light of the trucks' popularity, a sentiment echoed by Councilman John Lorenzo.

“These codes have been on the books for a long time. Times change. We evolve every day,” Lorenzo said. “If there are some areas that don’t have it just because the code may possibly be archaic at times … then we should change it. That's only fair.”

Under the proposal, peddler permits in both Bay Shore and Central Islip would increase from four to 10, while the hamlet of Islip would have five permits rather than its current two.

Fair Harbor would get one permit, which is expected to be used for a “gourmet-style” coffee shop run out of a trailer, according to Nicholas Newman, who would run the shop with the local chain Kismet Coffee.

“The goal here for me is to supply the [hamlet] with a service that it doesn’t have right now and never had,” Newman said, adding the hamlet doesn’t have any available commercial properties for a restaurant, so a peddler’s trailer is the best option for a coffee business.

Guarded support from local chamber

Greater Bay Shore Chamber of Commerce president Eddie Fraser said his organization backs Islip’s proposal as long as there is proper oversight and “the food trucks are not parked anywhere in the downtown area where they could negatively impact” existing business.

“Proper oversight, regulation, and thoughtful placement will be essential to ensure this expansion supports the community rather than competes unfairly or creates health or sanitation issues,” Fraser wrote in an email.

Islip’s peddler proposal doesn’t mention increased enforcement, but the existing code lays out a slew of regulations. For example, the town can revoke a permit if the food truck doesn’t meet Suffolk County Department of Health standards; peddlers can only operate on commercial or industrial land between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.; and permits have to be renewed annually.

“Every small business hires people and they spend money in that area, so it’s something that we need on Long Island,” Lorenzo said. “If we can tweak our code to make it work and keep it somewhat controlled, which we are, I think it’s a good thing.”

By Sam Kmack

sam.kmack@newsday.com

Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.