JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A manager of a local food truck park is claiming the city is trying to force him out of business with repeated citations for code violations. <\/p>\n
From soul food to American diner cuisine, the Trout River Food Park has provided residents in the Northside a plethora of dining options since it opened in late 2021.<\/p>\n
Patrons like Se\u2019Vona Bolds told Action News Jax it has become a staple.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cMost food trucks be out Southside, Westside, where most people can\u2019t get to, and this area right here is kind of a good area for people who are close by that can\u2019t really drive out far,\u201d said Bolds.<\/p>\n However, since its opening, the park\u2019s manager claims that inspections from code enforcement and citations for infractions, ranging from trash to issues with fencing and signage, have become routine.<\/p>\n The presence of city inspectors hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed by vendors like Stevon Davis, who owns Kettle and Spoon Soul Food Seafood and More.<\/p>\n \u201cTwice a month, maybe every other month or so,\u201d said Davis. \u201cWe fill a void. It\u2019s like a food desert out here besides Rally\u2019s and Burger King and blah, blah, blah, we don\u2019t have nothing else over here. And this is our livelihood.\u201d<\/p>\n The park manager said he estimates he\u2019s been issued more than a dozen citations since setting up shop.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt is their goal to shut the Food Park down. They have continued their harassment, and there does not seem to be an end in sight, except for closing the Food Park,\u201d the manager claimed in a recent Facebook post<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n But the city is pushing back.<\/p>\n \u201cHis recent frustrations have led to discussions about the park\u2019s status, but it is important for our community to understand that these decisions are not being made by the City or Code Enforcement,\u201d said Councilmember Reggie Gaffney Jr. (D-District 8) in a statement sent to Action News Jax.<\/p>\n In speaking with the manager who declined to go on camera, he did acknowledge to Action News Jax that the city hasn\u2019t directly threatened to shut him down, but he argued the continued cost of what he views as targeted and frivolous citations has become unsustainable and is about to drive him out of business either way.<\/p>\n If that happens, patrons said the loss of the food haven wouldn\u2019t just mean fewer dining options, but the loss of a beloved community gathering place.<\/p>\n \u201cWith everybody out here, it really brings the community together,\u201d said Bolds.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A manager of a local food truck park is claiming the city is trying to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":223041,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,121001,1066,3188,723,120998,7310,3005,425,121003,121000,3948,121002,121004,120999,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-223040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-burger_king","10":"tag-facebook","11":"tag-fl","12":"tag-florida","13":"tag-jack_shakestoan","14":"tag-jacksonville","15":"tag-jake","16":"tag-local","17":"tag-reggie_gaffney","18":"tag-savanna_bold","19":"tag-south","20":"tag-stephan_davis","21":"tag-stowan","22":"tag-trout_river_food_park","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115195934286929378","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}