70°
Mary Shepheard has posted a petition on change.org demanding that the Board of Selectmen allow Mark McManus, proprietor of the Only the Hungry food truck, to park at the Party Depot on Route 35.
McManus had gotten a permit from the town to work private parties and Parks and Recreation sites and events, according to a report in the Ridgefield Press. He only worked the Party Depot spot for a few weeks in the fall, the report said.
According to the Press report, the board recently passed a one-year moratorium on the issuing of new permits for food trucks.
McManus' business is grandfathered in, but the board has since declined to approve his Route 35 location, saying regular restaurants in the commercial strip would be negatively affected by the presence of a food vendor, the report said.
Shepheard said the food truck – which serves everything from burgers and fries to lobster mac and cheese – was her father’s “lifelong dream.”
McManus put most of his savings -- $53,000 – into buying and refurbishing the truck, she said in her petition.
Shepheard said she understood the town’s desire to protect the brick-and-mortar eateries, but, she said in the petition, her father pays his “fair share of taxes also.”
She said her dad is “offering Ridgefield a unique and fun lunch experience -- something that will draw customers to town.”
“But because some other businesses are afraid of competition, and because he does not operate the kind of establishment that brings in a lot of tax revenue for the town, his dream is being shut down,” Shepheard said.
To read the Ridgefield Press story, click here.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgefield and receive free news updates.
