Owner of popular Jacksonville food truck park on Northside opts to stay open after outcry from community

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A popular food truck park in North Jacksonville that was set to shut down on Friday will now remain open, the owner told News4JAX.

Trout River Food Truck Park on Lem Turner Road has served not just meals — but a community — in an area with few fresh food options.

But the owner said last week that after years of code violations, he was ready to shut it all down.

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Then came an outpouring from the community with hundreds of people reaching out.

Park owner Robert Germano said the community reaction and a series of meetings over the last several days convinced him to change his mind and keep the park running.

It’s a complete turnaround after Germano said last week he couldn’t see a way to keep it going.

“No, and I hate that. I absolutely hate that because I’ve invested over $60,000. My partners have invested over $60,000, and this was my pride and joy,” Germano said last week. “It’s a feeling, you know, that kind of… gets you in the gut, because I’ve done everything.”

Germano said since last week, he’s met with code enforcement, the fire marshal, and councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr. several times to come up with a solution.

Germano says a part of the resolution moving forward could involve him remaining an owner or selling the park to someone else who can keep it running.

The city said last week that the park has received over 10 violations, which include unpermitted electrical and plumbing, improper wastewater disposal, an unmaintained parking lot, and no proper hand-washing stations.

But Germano said he feels the city was harassing him and being selective in its enforcement.

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He said one violation involved not having fencing around a dumpster and not having proper fencing after two separate car crashes in the area that destroyed a fence and a pole.

“If it was a real safety concern, you would be writing up everybody,” Germano said.

Germano said he paid more than $7,000 to have things fixed.

Germano and the city are still ironing out details, but Germano said the food truck park is now not shutting down under his watch.

But he’s also still planning to fight the code violations.

“I am not giving up my fight on the code enforcement,” he said. “I think there needs to be reform.”