Norma Lombana, event organizer for Mother of Christ Church, has been working closely with Miami-Dade commissioner Joe A. Martinez (who is actively involved with the church), to try to find a way to continue hosting these food truck roundups. Commissioner Martinez put Ms. Lombana in touch with county zoning and planning director Marc LaFerrier to try to come up with a plan. "Director LaFerrier was extremely nice, cordial and professional", Lombana said. "He really wanted to know all the details of the event. We were working together".
Yesterday, however, plans to either issue a temporary permit or find a loophole fell through and James Byers, chief of zoning, permitting for the county called to say there was nothing they could do right now.
As it stands, since the church is in a residential neighborhood, Ms. Lombana would have to have 80 percent of residents within 1,000 feet of church property sign a petition allowing the roundup, as well as provide a site plan and pay an annual application fee.
Though the event is cancelled for this week, Ms. Lombana is hopeful for the future. She feels that with a little more time she can get the county's "blessing" to hold, ideally, a bi-monthly roundup which provides some funding, as well as something much more important to Ms. Lombana and the Church: community.
"At least twice a month, families come and congregate at these roundups," Lombana said. "This is a place for people to go and have a wonderful time. More than anything, if we can get five or ten families to stay for church and join our community, we're more than happy. We just pray that things move faster."
In the meantime, trucks are rolling at two locations tonight, one down south and one in Hollywood.
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino begins their weekly summer Miami Food Truck Rally. Sure you have to drive to Hollywood, but in return you'll get all the glitz and glamour of this mega-casino plus 20 food trucks so you can head over to the Sex and the City and Monopoly slots sated. Besides gambling, this rally features free parking, live entertainment and a weekly movie (title TBA).
Trucks serving dinner from 5:30 to 10 p.m. tonight include: Aaron's Catering Express, CheeseMe, ChurroMania, Daddy's Grill, Dim Ssam a Gogo, Dolci Peccati Gelato, The Fish Box, The Flying Saucer, gastroPod, Grill Master, Jefe's Original Fish Taco, Latin Burger, Latin House Grill, The MexZican Gourmet, Mr. Good Stuff, Ms. Cheezious, The Red Koi, The Rolling Stove, Sugar Rush, and The Yellow Submarine.
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Seminole Paradise valet parking lot) 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood
If you live too far south to make the drive to Hollywood, Peterson's Harley-Davidson South is hosting their monthly food truck roundup. The Harley showroom stays open late for the event, should your pork slider entice you into purchasing a different kind of "hog". Trucks serving from 5:30 to 10 p.m. include: Che Grill, Clarabelle's Cupcakes, El Rey de la Paella, Metro Deli Express, Papa's Tapas, Pop Burger Love/Chocolate Love, and Sno Caps.
Peterson's Harley-Davidson South 19825 S. Dixie Highway, Miami
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