Following the lead of larger cities, two Lake Charles entrepreneurs are bringing a food truck park to downtown Lake Charles.
Eric Blanchard said that while visiting friends in Austin, he noticed that there are a lot of places for people to get together outside, play games and get food from local food trucks.
So, for the past five years, he has been working to bring a similar business model to Lake Charles.
Within the next 30 days, Blanchard and his business partner, James Guilbeaux, Jr., will see construction start up on The Chuck Stop, which will be located at 510 Broad St. in Lake Charles.
“We've seen a lot of the food trucks come into the city over the last five to seven to 10 years,” Guilbeaux said. “There's always little pop-ups here or events here, but there isn't a dedicated space where you can roll up and have multiple choices.”
The Chuck Stop will start with five spaces for food trucks with electricity and water hookups; however, they have plans to eventually have seven spots up and running.
In addition to spots for the food trucks, there will be amenities at the spot to make it a place people want to hang out at.
“We'll have a dining area, which our plan is to have that covered and waterproof and have some air movement (so) that it's cool during the summertime,” Guilbeaux said. “(There will be) a gaming area. And it will be kid-friendly, pet-friendly. We'll also have probably some shipping containers that will be repurposed and whatnot for bathrooms and for serving like beers and stuff like a bar container and whatnot.”
The ultimate goal is for there to be a phase two of construction that will include creating a bar at the property.
The Chuck Stop will be located within the Charpentier Historic District, which Blanchard said was the overall intent.
“I live in the historical district, so to me, it's personal,” Blanchard said. “I want to see our neighborhood and our area have more to do. To me, there was no other place but downtown.”
However, being located within the district meant that there were specific requirements for approval.
"Any new development, and this would be considered a new development in that district, which is a historic district, it's an overlay district, the historic preservation commission reviews the design standards and the proposal through their public hearing and review process," said the City of Lake Charles Director of Planning, Doug Burguieres. "So, they hear it at the public hearing level. They meet once a month, and they review the submitted documents, the plans, what the facility is going to look like, how it's going to be used, and they vote accordingly."
In fact, Blanchard said that they had to go to the historical district multiple times, as well as the Lake Charles City Council.
The two have been going through the approval process for more than two years.
Blanchard said they will be offering leases, in a variety of lengths, for licensed food trucks to rent.
Lake Charles Director of Finance Emily McDaniel said that to operate within the incorporated areas of the city of Lake Charles, the owner of a food truck is required to have an up-to-date itinerant vendor license, which costs $100 a year.
“As part of the requirement to obtain this license, the truck must have a current address on file, identifying where they are operating,” McDaniel said. “The city requires a letter of permission on file from the landowner. This license is obtained through the city of Lake Charles Occupational License Division at City Hall.”
In addition, the owners of the food trucks are responsible for collecting and remitting sales taxes with the Calcasieu Parish School Board Sales Tax Office, according to McDaniel.
As far as regulations go, the food trucks are regulated through the Louisiana Department of Health.
Blanchard said several food truck owners have reached out to express interest.
In fact, Blanchard said they plan to meet with area food truck owners soon to discuss what is needed at the food truck park and what may be best for lease lengths.
“Before we say any definite thing on the trucks,” Blanchard said. “We want to hear what they have to say.”
However, Blanchard said the hope is to have some long-term leases.
“In an ideal scenario, we would like a truck to be there for a while,” Blanchard said. “What's the exact time frame? I don't know, but we don't want it to be where one truck comes in and is there for a day and then they're gone. We want customers to be able to know what's there, so that they can come to find their favorite food truck and plan for that, versus having to worry about following them around everywhere.”
The Chuck Stop is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.