Council hears food truck park proposal for Patriot Park lot

In a work session before the Oct. 26 city council meeting, council members heard from one of two developers about their proposal for the vacant lot between Patriot Park and Oxmoor Road.

Tom Walker and Coleman Beal have proposed to turn the lot into a food truck park and shipping container beer garden. At the work session, Walker said their plans include space for 10 trucks, including power and water hookups, with shipping container space for food or drink retailers. There would be courtyard seating, landscaping, restrooms and some covered areas that could serve as event space. One of the possible designs includes five parking spaces.

Walker said the project is low-risk for the city because of the lack of a permanent structure, and his interaction with area food trucks leads him to see a need for a reliable space to set up. He said there were around 28 food trucks in Birmingham the last time he counted. He and Beal said their experience at the West Homewood Farmer's Market encouraged them that there would be enough of a market to entice food truck owners.

“We think anything that happens on this lot would be a missed opportunity if it didn’t capitalize on the city’s investment in the area,” Walker said. “What they [food trucks] are looking for is something where everyone can go and they know there will be customers.”

In response to questions from council members, Walker said a management agency would be employed to keep the site clean and food trucks would pay a base rent and certain percentage of sales to use the lot. Food trucks would be required to use the lot a certain number of hours per week, but could still operate in other places if they chose to.

Ward 5 Representative Peter Wright expressed his concern that there would be long stretches of the day without a food truck on-site, making it less likely for customers to show up.

“It makes it very indefinite – attractive, unique, but indefinite,” Wright said.

Other concerns included the effect on local brick-and-mortar businesses and calculating tax payments. Walker responded that he expected the area to receive an overall increase in customers at many businesses, and that truck owners would pay sales tax and he and Beal would pay ad valorem taxes.

“I really want to drive home the fact that we see this as a family friendly event space," Walker said. "We see this as something that brings families to the park.”

Walker and Beal have budgeted $450,000 to buy and improve the property if their proposal is chosen.

Sonya DiCarlo and Paula Harris were not at the meeting to present their proposal of a restaurant, retail and event space building. In an email, DiCarlo said they had not been notified of the meeting's occurrence until a few hours beforehand.

The council carried over discussion, but did not set a date for another work session. Residents near Patriot Park have set a town hall meeting to discuss the proposals on Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. at the Hub, adjacent to Seeds Coffee.