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Mobile food stands may avoid mass closures
By Bill Harless, bharless@nashvillecitypaper.com
December 02, 2005

The sponsors of a Metro Council bill that would close mobile food trailers in Nashville, such as those dotting the immigrant-populated section of Nolensville Road, say they plan to seek a compromise.

The number of such trailers in Davidson County, totaling 74, has increased 54 percent since last year, according to a recent Metro Health Department report. The mobile trailers average 67 out of 100 in health ratings. That compares to an 83 average when the scores of all county restaurants are tallied.

The poor scores, along with several complaints, compelled the legislation, which has “gotten people’s attention,� said Councilman-at-Large Buck Dozier, a bill sponsored with Council members Tommy Bradley and Amanda McClendon. He said he will defer Council’s second reading of the bill.

“I think they [mobile food vendors] understand now that there is a very serious problem,� Dozier said, adding that he doesn’t want to close trailers that earn good health ratings. But “… we’re going to be very stringent on the people who just won’t cooperate with us. Everybody has violations, but these were critical violations, and … there didn’t seem to be a willingness to address them at all.�

Jerry Rowland, director of Food Protection Services at Metro Health, said a compromise “sounds good to us� and said Metro still prefers educating, rather than regulating, kitchen owners.

But, Rowland said, the problem is though Metro has offered food safety classes since 1988, and classes in Spanish for several years, “… we don’t get the kind of participation that we would certainly like from the mobile kitchen operators� and that Metro is spending disproportionate time inspecting trailers.

He said Metro has dedicated an employee to mobile kitchen inspections, partly because their number increased so quickly but also because repetition of health offenses by trailer operators is especially common. Whereas Metro’s 10 other inspectors have roughly 390 establishments to canvass, the trailer inspector keeps busy with 74, Rowland said.

“We’re having to spend more time and expend more resources dealing with mobile kitchens.�

According to the Metro report, refrigeration space in trailers is often inadequate; sanitation practices lack; several have water, sewer and wastewater problems; and insect and rodent control is often needed.

There are exceptions. Taj Indian Food, a kitchen at 4504 Nolensville Road, has scored health ratings between 91-100, for example.

McClendon said she would likely support a compromise but said she wants trailers to work on a level playing field with restaurants situated in buildings, which she said must meet additional requirements such as Americans with Disabilities Act provisions.