KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Independence. Share your story idea with Claire.
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A group of small business owners in Buckner is pushing for changes to the city's food truck ordinance, hoping to attract more mobile vendors and customers to the community.
At the January 8 Board of Aldermen meeting, Tammi Krones brought a request to modify the current ordinance. Under existing rules, food trucks cannot operate on Hudson Street without special event approval or within 200 feet of a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Krones said that essentially limits them to the city park.
Krones and other business owners are part of a small business development group exploring ways to boost commerce in Buckner. They believe relaxing food truck restrictions could draw more mobile vendors to town, potentially bringing outside customers with them.
"If 10 years ago, you would have said that food trucks were popular, that probably wasn't the case. But because things in our community and our lifestyle changes that even us as small towns have to look at that, and what can we do to capitalize on that?" Krones said.
A worry expressed by aldermen is that any changes to the ordinance should not harm current permanent restaurant businesses. Krones expressed that is not the goal, explaining that it would potentially bring those restaurants more business if new customers saw the storefront.
KSHB 41 News reached out to the owner of the brick-and-mortar restaurant on Hudson Street. They declined to participate in the story but said they are okay with whatever the city decides.
The Board of Aldermen will discuss the proposal at Thursday's meeting after tabling it two weeks ago.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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