Ice cream could soon be peddled to a neighbourhood near you.
The city is going to look into the possibility of permitting bicycle ice cream carts in Orillia following an inquiry by Coun. Jay Fallis at Monday’s council meeting, which he brought forward after a constituent reached out to him with the idea.
“Basically, the concept being a bicycle ice cream stall on the go, (it’s) obviously a little bit different from the trucks that we've explored before, in that the capacity of these is much smaller, likely much safer,” he said. “I thought it would be something worth exploring.”
Fallis won his peers’ support for the idea, directing city staff to report back on the feasibility of permitting bicycle vendors in the city, with the caveat that a maximum of five permits may be issued per year and that vendors only be permitted to sell food and drinks.
His motion also requested that vendors only be permitted to operate on community and collector roads, and that the report consider any additional safety requirements deemed necessary by city staff.
“I think this is great. I have a friend who actually owns a company that has little bikes,” said Coun. Whitney Smith.
“I think it gives people an option, whether this individual's riding through the park, and you're like, ‘I’d love a popsicle today,’ and ding, ding, here comes a guy,” she said. “I think it's a great idea to just look into it, and hopefully it's not as challenging as the ice cream truck situation was.”
Last year, city council permitted ice cream trucks to operate in the city, but no vendors have yet to take up the opportunity – with one would-be vendor recently citing high permit costs as a deterrent to doing business.
That lack of success for local ice cream trucks was highlighted by Mayor Don McIsaac in his criticism of the idea.
“We spent a lot of time on ice cream trucks (and) we haven’t got a single application,” the mayor said. “This just puts us further along the road to nowhere, I think, if we pursue this.”
Coun. Ralph Cipolla also spoke against the idea, citing potential health issues and arguing there “are more important things at this time to keep staff busy.”
“I’m also concerned about the safety of the food. They can't keep refrigeration on there – they have to put in ice,” Cipolla said. “I would strongly suggest that we do not recommend this.”
