Mobile food vendors could have food court

Pahrump mobile food vendors that are scattered across different parts of town could soon have a designated location.

Officials will discuss the possibility of establishing a permanent food court location for mobile food vendors within the Pahrump Regional Planning District at the Nye County Board of Commissioners meeting on Nov. 3.

"That's one of the questions that we are just trying to get an answer (to) is if the county would be willing to let them go to Petrack Park or other places and have a pre-established site that people could go to, maybe even have a little food court," Nye County Planning Director Darrell Lacy said.

The issue was raised a few months ago when the Nye County Planning Department received complaints about mobile food vendors who were parked without approval of property owners and parked inside unpaved parking lots.

Nye County Planning Department officials couldn't provide the source of complaints.

"The complaints we received were verbal and the callers didn't leave us names or contact information," Nye County Planner Beth Lee said.

Pete Ellis, who operates Pete's Meats and Treats along Highway 160 said he wouldn't mind being parked next to another mobile food vendor but likes his current location.

"Personally, I think Petrack (Park) could work through the summer months when there's some sport activities going on, but I can't even imagine it working through the cooler months when the snowbirds are here. Personally, I have no intention (of) moving," Ellis said.

"If there was a location that was somehow facilitated by the city in the sense that there was hard-surface parking, there was lighting for when it got dark and there was visibility or access. I can't even imagine not being on (Highway) 160 where I'm at at this point," he added.

Another Pahrump mobile food vendor, Jeanne Wright, said she didn't know about a proposed change.

Nye County adopted code currently has no regulations for mobile food vendors. Recently, a group of local officials and mobile food vendors had formed a mobile food vending subcommittee that hashed out a first set of preliminary rules that set out conditions for Nye County mobile food vendors.

If approved, a designated food court would have to be codified into ordinances, Lacy said.

"We have some questions that we want answered from them as to whether it makes sense to try to include in the ordinance a pre-established site on county or other private land," he said.

"We are not trying to be exclusive. We are trying to offer this as additional option. Not to say this is the only place they can go, but to offer this as an additional option," he added.

Nye County commissioners Lorinda Wichman and Dan Schinhofen declined to provide comments ahead of the meeting.

Contact reporter Daria Sokolova at dsokolova@pvtimes.com. Find her on Twitter: @dariasokolova77.