TD Council pushes pause on food cart & transient merchant rules; Vote expected next week
The Dalles, Ore., Sept. 15, 2025 — The Dalles City Council pressed pause Monday, Sept. 8, on a sweeping rewrite of the city’s food-cart and transient-merchant rules, taking public comment and discussing next steps but making no decision.
“There will be no action taken tonight,” said Mayor Rich Mays and the council moved the item to a discussion-only format so all members could be present for a later vote on Sept. 22.
At stake is how—and how long—mobile vendors can operate at a single site.
The draft ordinance would merge the city’s two decades-old chapters on mobile food vendors and transient merchants into one rulebook, create two license types (up to 30 days, renewable to six months; and more than six months up to one year), and set a firm 12-month ceiling on “temporary” operations. Beyond a year, vendors would need to move into a land-use process under the city’s development code. For now, staff said they would honor renewals for those already operating in place while that land-use pathway is crafted.
Why It Matters
Food carts are an entry point for local entrepreneurs and a draw for residents and visitors. The proposed changes would clarify how long a cart can operate without moving into costlier land-use review, potentially lower fees for healthy offerings, and remove a background-check hurdle that staff say is unique in Oregon. At the same time, the 12-month cap signals a shift: carts that function as long-term fixtures would need to meet standards closer to brick-and-mortar uses once the development-code pathway is in place.
Cutting Red Tape
Several provisions target costs and red tape. The proposal would scrap background checks and the accompanying $20 “investigation fee,” a relic staff said they could not find in any other Oregon city. It would also expand a healthy-food incentive—cutting license costs by 50% for carts offering at least two defined healthy items—and extend existing fee waivers (now available to nonprofits and Oregon-grown produce sellers under the merchant rules) to qualifying food vendors as well. “We couldn’t find any city anywhere in Oregon that required [background checks],” staff told the council, calling the requirement a potential deterrent to small businesses.
Where a cart sets up still matters. Operations inside approved food pods (such as Sixth Street Station and The Landing in East The Dalles) would be exempt from city licensing under the consolidated ordinance, because those sites already went through site-plan review.
Drive Through Trigger
Drive-through service would trigger site-plan review due to traffic and queuing impacts; standard seating allowances (up to four tables with six seats each) would remain available without land-use review. Vendors at one-off events—think school games or the Cherry Festival—would also be exempt, as would lemonade stands and ice cream trucks under limited rules.
What’s next: Staff said they will bring a companion amendment back to City Council on Sept. create a right-sized path for vendors that want to stay longer than a year. That process—planning commission review, public hearings, and state compliance checks—typically takes months. Until then, vendors on one-year licenses can keep operating under renewals the city honors while the code work proceeds, according to the discussion.
In other council action Monday, Sept. 8:
The council approved a 15-year telecommunications franchise with Blue Mountain Networks, setting a minimum franchise fee of $500 per quarter or 7% of gross revenue, whichever is higher. City Council on Sept. 8
The mayor proclaimed September as Hunger Action Month after remarks from Columbia Gorge Food Bank. City Council on Sept. 8
Mid-Columbia Community Action Council detailed shelter and housing work in the region, including the Gloria Center’s emergency use during the Rowena Fire.
