DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Decatur residents will be seeing more tacos, burgers and barbecue downtown, thanks to a move by the city council to allow food trucks to operate all year. 

"Easy to go, so many people are on the go right now. you don't have many people sitting down, or wanting to sit down, especially during the summer months. Food trucks are amazing for this time," Von Thomas, owner of The Turkey Man Food Truck, told WAND News.

For Thomas, food trucks have always been a family affair.

"My dad and I opened our first one in 2000. It was Mr. Meaty Meat Wagon on Eldorado and Martin Luther King. So since 2000, food trucks have really been popping," Thomas explained.

He now owns The Turkey Man, a food truck he built by hand and now runs with his kids near Johns Hill Park.

"We're known for our turkey burgers and what we call fried hood rice - it's like a fried rice, we fry it with an egg, special sauce, special seasoning. It's real good," Thomas added.

Food truck owners like Thomas will soon be able to park in the downtown area and serve the city on a year-round basis.

"Small businesses, including food trucks, should be welcomed to the community. And the removal of these long-standing government regulations should allow additional businesses, including minority-owned businesses, to thrive," Decatur Councilman David Horn said at Monday night's council meeting.

That is welcome news for Thomas, who also works a full-time job.

"I work construction, so this is my working season right now. So for the city to let us go year-round, when I'm not working in the winter months - I'm able to run my food truck in the winter months," Thomas told WAND News.

Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said food trucks must stay 200 feet from brick-and-mortar restaurants, not block any on-street parking and offer bathroom access for customers if they are open more than three hours at a time.

"There's been a lot of demand from the public to have food trucks. We're trying to strike a balance with our brick and mortar stores and restaurants, those restaurants are still struggling. So we're trying to do what we can to make it easy for people to enjoy food trucks, but not harm our restaurants," the mayor explained.

Food trucks can also operate on extended hours, from 6 a.m. until midnight. But they may not park downtown overnight.

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