Big Response to Courtenay Food Truck Survey

The general results of the City of Courtenay Food Truck Survey are now available. Over 1,000 people completed the survey, with 95 percent declaring their support for increasing food truck opportunities in the city.

• Food Truck Survey general results [PDF - 48 KB]

John Ward, director of legislative services, said the city is pleased with the level of engagement. “We began this process due to requests and feedback from the community, so we knew there was a lot of interest in the topic,” noted Ward. “We will now carefully review the results and suggestions from the survey, along with feedback from key stakeholders such as the Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Courtenay Business Improvement Association, as well as city staff, to come up with recommendations for changes to current regulations in the business licence bylaw.”

The survey weighed levels of support for food trucks in various types of locations. There was strong support for allowing food trucks on public property, with 90 percent in favour of food trucks on public property such as parks and City of Courtenay facilities. The majority of survey respondents were not in favour of food trucks in residential areas, with only 19 percent support. Respondents were generally in favour of allowing food trucks on private property, city streets, and commercial areas.

The issue of how close food trucks should be allowed to brick-and-mortar restaurants was less clear-cut. Respondents were fairly evenly split between those who suggested there should be no restrictions on distance, and those who felt that a specified distance (30, 50, or 100 metres away) from restaurants would be appropriate. Some felt the distance should be even farther.

59 percent of respondents did not think there should be limits on the number of food trucks.

The survey also asked for written feedback. “We have thousands of responses to review,” noted Ward. “This process has generated a lot of ideas, from the general public, businesses, restaurant owners, and people interested in running a food truck in Courtenay, and we’re going to review these carefully. We understand there are potential food truck operators who are waiting for the results of the proposed bylaw changes, so we’re going to do our best to get this right.”  

Proposed changes to the business licence bylaw will be presented to City Council in the coming weeks.

Updates will be posted to the City of Courtenay website at www.courtenay.ca/foodtrucks