Good news for food trucks in KCK: This popular corner is back open for business
It’s been quieter than usual at 18th Street and Central Avenue lately.
What was once a humming food-truck scene was shut down by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, in December. Officials declared a 60-day moratorium that prevented mobile vending in the area, citing persistent issues related to the burning of trash, the dumping of grease into storm drains, unpermitted restrooms, unlawful street closures, and trucks parked in the same location for weeks at a time.
Now the ban has been lifted, the UG announced Friday.
“I expect vendors to be back up and going this weekend,” said Edgar Galicia, who promotes and incubates mobile vending businesses in Wyandotte County through his work as the director of the Central Avenue Betterment Association.
The move follows work done by the Kansas City, Kansas Environmental Services, a division of the UG’s Public Works department. KCKES performed cleaning and maintenance on stormwater and wastewater infrastructure in the area. It also hosted an educational session this week aimed at helping mobile vendors understand rules around waste disposal and other regulatory requirements.
“I think it was a good conversation,” Galicia said of the meeting. “I don’t know if it was necessary to shut these businesses out of the area for two months. But now we have a situation where the vendors have the opportunity to show they can operate in the right way.”
Vendors at 18th and Central have previously run afoul of UG regulations. Local laws state that food trucks must close by 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 p.m. on weekends. But those laws largely weren’t enforced during and after the pandemic. In April, in response to noise complaints in the area, the UG began enforcing the laws, denting the profits of several trucks that had been operating until midnight or later, serving shift workers and late-night bar patrons.
After a backlash, the city eased enforcement — until the December moratorium.
Jose Sanchez, who runs the Senor Avocado food truck, said he moved his operations to Seventh Street and Kansas Avenue after the moratorium took effect. But he plans to return to 18th and Central in the coming days.
“I’ll be happy to be back,” he said. “I’ve been doing other jobs in the meantime, like snow removal. The weather’s been too cold for food trucks anyway.”
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM.
