Along the main thoroughfare in downtown Eureka Springs, the hungry can find everything from fine dining to funnel cakes.
But they won't find food trucks -- unless they're at a city-sponsored event.
The majority of culinary options along Spring Street are of the sit-down variety, seemingly geared more for tourists than townsfolk.
This has some locals lobbying for downtown food trucks, where they can get a quick bite to go, and the cost will likely be lower.
But some restaurant owners oppose the idea. They say food trucks will take business from brick-and-mortar restaurants.
The City Council has chewed on this issue for weeks, discussing it at a couple of meetings and holding a "workshop" to get input from the public.
"I don't think our town could support 10 or 20 food trucks, but I do think we could support maybe up to five," Victor Smith, who has a food truck business called Catered Creations, said at the council's meeting Monday.
"Everybody should have an equal opportunity to make a living. ... I would ask that people vote in food trucks to broaden what Eureka Springs has to offer."
Three restaurant owners spoke out against the idea at the meeting.
"I believe you're going down a path that is going to seriously hurt this community," said Joe Joy, co-owner of Pepe Tacos at Casa Colina.
"They're one of the hottest things going -- not for Eureka Springs," said Rod Minner, co-owner of two Rowdy Beaver restaurants in Eureka Springs. "We don't have the people. We don't have the tourists. What we have are a lot of restaurants here that are struggling to get by."
"We're not on a level field with the food trucks," said Richard September, owner of Grandma's Beans and Cornbread. "Food trucks don't have expenses that restaurants do, such as water rates, sewer rates, trash pickup, electric bills, natural gas bills, paper towels, toilet paper. They don't have tables, chairs, floors, sinks, toilets to maintain. They don't have rent and mortgage costs."
The council sent the food-truck issue to its planning commission, which is scheduled to meet Dec. 8.
"It's a land-use issue," said Mayor Robert "Butch" Berry.
All of downtown Eureka Springs is designated as a historic district, so where food trucks would be allowed in the Victorian village could be an issue from an aesthetic perspective.
Still, the final say will be up to the City Council.
Alderman James DeVito has operated a restaurant in downtown Eureka Springs for 29 years.
From a restaurateur's perspective, DeVito doesn't like the idea of food trucks cutting up the pie, but from a councilman's viewpoint, he can't complain.
"As a councilman, I can't in good conscience limit the availability to capital in a free enterprise society," DeVito said. "The only factor in Eureka Springs I might consider would be the Historic District Commission and the actual facility from which they vend the food."
Since food trucks are already allowed at city-sponsored events, "the nose of the camel is already in the tent," DeVito said.
DeVito said there's a location on South Main Street that might serve well as a food-truck court. There's already a public restroom in the area. And food trucks could be allowed in the parking lot of the City Auditorium after 9 p.m., when few restaurants are open in that area, he said.
"Quite frankly, we can't jam anything else downtown," DeVito said. "Downtown is so damn congested already."
DeVito said people can find affordable food downtown already. A sandwich with two sides from DeVito's -- which specializes in Italian food -- sells for $8 to $10, he said.
Joyce Zeller, a member of the City Council, said she had problems with the idea of excluding food trucks from downtown. She said the council needs to investigate the issue instead of throwing it out, as some restaurant owners had requested.
"It isn't the duty of this governmental body to make sure that all of businesses are profitable," Zeller told the other council members. "It's our duty to do what's good for the city."
NW News on 11/27/2015