Mark your calendars and bring your appetite: Hartford food truck park to open for the season May 3
WestSide Square, Hartford’s first food truck park, which sits on the corner of Farmington and Girard Avenues in the West End, will open for the season May 3, the owners say.
Quan and Rebeca Quach of Hartford debuted WestSide Square last July, and ran it until cold weather set in, with a temporary-use permit. At the time, the city did not have zoning regulations for food truck parks, because no food truck parks had ever existed in the city.
In January, the city’s planning and zoning commission created food truck park regulations, and this month the Quaches were approved as a permanent outdoor market.
WestSide Square had to make a few changes to its operation to get that permit, including putting up barriers for sound mitigation and setting a live music cutoff time at 9 p.m.
“We’re putting up some noise-dampening panels behind the stage to block noise going past the container to the apartments in the back,” Quan Quach said during a break in putting up those panels.
The 9 p.m. music cutoff time may be adjusted, as was discussed at the March 14 public hearing, if residents complain about noise. In the 2022 season, 13 complaints were received, according to police Lt. Paul Cicero.
“(Cicero) will be working with officers responding to the scene to have them turn on their bodycams to they can later review how loud the music was,” the hearing minutes read.
Local reaction
The one-third-acre lot at 510 Farmington Ave. was the site of a lengthy battle, starting in 2012, between the city and the lot’s owners, who tried and failed repeatedly to put a McDonald’s there, with a drive-thru. That legal scuffle ended last November when a settlement was reached.
In an interview with The Courant last November, Hartford Corporation Counsel Howard Rifkin said the city would continue to allow the food truck park while deciding what to do with the space long-term.
On Friday, Rifkin said no decision has been made about redevelopment plans for the parcel, leaving the space open for the season for WestSide Square.
The community surrounding the parcel disliked the fast-food plan, but it came out in support of WestSide Square.
The planning staff report called the market “an example of how to help interesting ideas and projects ‘scale-up,’ as this would be Hartford’s first stand-alone, outdoor market concept. … This project will expand outdoor dining opportunities and enliven the public realm on this portion of Farmington Avenue. In some ways, this project will also help activate public space with art, given the artistic touches of the proposed signs, fence, and furniture.”
Local resident Jeanna Grimes wrote the city in support of the park. “The lot was once just blight and is now vibrant with energy,” Grimes wrote.
Neighbor Beth A. Borden wrote “It brings so much joy and fun to the neighborhood.”
Coe Hoeksema wrote “We all love the games and food, but especially enjoy seeing the variety of ways the space can be used to create community.”
Quach said he will work on acquiring his outdoor liquor license before opening for the season.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.