DERBY — The city’s Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen last month gave permission for a food truck trailer to operate on Roosevelt Drive.
The vote means that El Sol Deli, LLC is legally operating at 253 Roosevelt Drive, a property within the city’s “mill design district,” according to the city’s online assessor’s database.
El Sol currently has a deli in Monroe. Click here for the Facebook page.
The Valley Indy reached out to the owner but did not hear back.
The new location is home to Roosevelt Towers Antique and Salvage, which has ample outdoor space. El Sol has set up shop in a corner of the property close to Roosevelt Drive.
A Tortured Journey
El Sol, which serves Mexican food, had tried to open earlier this year at nearby 285 Roosevelt Drive, where Larry’s Landing, another food truck, had operated for about three years on vacant land.
However, 285 Roosevelt Drive is zoned residential, which means commercial uses are not allowed.
Supporters argued food trucks were a grandfathered use because the land had been used as a parking lot for a commercial business across the street.
However, the land at 285 Roosevelt Drive had been vacant for several years before Larry’s Landing moved in, and the commercial land across the street was sold, torn down, and redeveloped.
Derby land use regulations say grandfathered uses in Derby are supposed to be considered abandoned if the use isn’t happening for six months. In the case of vacant land, the grandfathered use is considered abandoned if the use isn’t in place for 30 days.
Yet the city allowed Larry’s Landing to operate.
Convoluted Hearings
A controversy ensued after Larry’s Landing closed, and El Sol tried to move in.
The Derby zoning enforcement officer told El Sol a commercial use wasn’t allowed at 285 Roosevelt Drive.
El Sol appeared in front of the Derby Zoning Board of Appeals, arguing the city had allowed Larry’s Landing and that the use was grandfathered.
When Larry’s Landing moved in, the residential neighbors on Park Avenue — a road directly behind 285 Roosevelt Drive — said they were not notified.
However, they were notified about El Sol’s appearance in front of the ZBA, and several neighbors came out and said they no longer wanted a food truck as a neighbor.
Neighbors pointed out that the vacant land next to 285 Roosevelt Drive was being used illegally as storage for a small commercial center across the street.
Neighbors complained that the properties — which are supposed to be residential — were being used to store dumpsters and portable bathrooms.
Food truck supporters said no one complained while Larry’s Landing was there, and that Derby has to encourage business growth. Edward Larson, the land owner, said the complaints were untrue or exaggerated.
On social media, the majority of comments supported the food truck, pointing out Roosevelt Drive has many commercial uses. In reality, a property owner can’t turn their residential property into a commercial use just because there’s a commercial use next door. The property owner can ask to have the land rezoned.
Approved But Denied
Eventually the ZBA ruled against the neighbors by a 3-2 vote, saying most of the complaints were out of their jurisdiction. The majority agreed that the use had been grandfathered.
But — they needed four votes to grant a variance allowing the food truck to open there. So the variance was denied, even though most ZBA members voted to grant it.
Since the ZBA hearings, Mayor Joseph DiMartino’s administration has taken steps to get the properties back into compliance with zoning law.
The light was removed — though no one could answer how it got there in the first place. The ZEO has taken action to clean up the lot being used for storage, according to the mayor’s office.
The members of the Board of Aldermen and Alderwomen officially gave the green light to El Sol with a unanimous vote to grant the food trailer a vendor’s permit Aug 13.