George Makris' increasingly popular Hip Pocket Deli food truck is building a following at a site that could be ripe for a food truck park. Photo credit: Shannon Nickinson

County Commissioner Doug Underhill is on a mission to rejuvenate Warrington, and coalesce its many diverse neighborhoods around a beating commercial heart.

Step 1 of his ambitious plan is a take-off on the old saying: The way to one's heart is through the stomach.

Joined by Warrington civic activists Randy and Jennifer Ponson, Underhill wants to establish a food truck park on vacant property fronting a strip mall at Barrancas and Live Oak Avenue.

"I personally think Warrington right now is just a group of neighborhoods, and we need some focal point to gather around," said Randy Ponson, who chairs the group Bring Back Warrington. "I think this is a good idea, and at first I thought it might be something that was fairly easy to do. We're looking deeper into it.”

Supporters note that food trucks can provide an entrepreneurial outlet for would-be business owners, and growth and development of small businesses is one of the things the Studer Community Institute is focused on researching and highlighting.

Opponents of such mobile eateries say they can pose a threat to brick-and-mortar businesses, but in many cities, including Austin, the two find ways to coexist.

Pensacola City Council earlier this month failed to take action on rules that would govern where food trucks could operate in the city — three years after they first broached the subject.

Proposal could help boost Warrington

Earlier this month Underhill broached the food truck park idea to his fellow commissioners, and he came prepared.

His pitch was based on a study by the county's Community Redevelopment Agency that outlined prospective models for a food truck park. The outlines were based on several successful models currently functioning in other U.S. cities.

"Food trucks are gaining popularity across the nation," Underhill said, during a presentation to the full board of commissioners. "What we want to establish is that 'town center' feel for Warrington.

"That's one of the things Warrington needs is a spiritual energy center, and we think this is one way of establishing that," said Underhill, whose District 2 encompasses most of Warrington.

Underhill said the ideal site for the food truck park is at 45 Barrancas Ave. and Live Oak Avenue The property is an out-parcel from a strip mall that currently includes a satellite office of the Escambia County Tax Collector.

Underhill said for a relatively small investment, the county's CRA would develop a site that could accommodate nine food trucks, along with a covered pavilion and other amenities.

"The county would be on the hook for some minor infrastructure improvements, providing pads for the trucks and public seating.

Underhill said he is working on developing cost estimates for the project, and would present them to the county early next year.

"The ultimate goal here is to increase to number of culinary options available to the public in Warrington," he said.

Lukewarm reception

Despite his enthusiasm for the project, Underhill got what could best be described as polite but lukewarm reception.

"If we as the county are going to be a participant, how will this competition affect the private sector restaurants that have huge brick-and-mortar investments in their business," asked Commissioner Wilson Robertson. "If I'm operating out of one of these trucks, I can make my sandwiches, or my salads cheaper than someone who is paying a mortgage on a brick-and-mortar restaurant."

District 5 Commissioner Steven Barry asked Underhill why the current owner of the Barrancas site wouldn't make the investment to install the concrete pads and other outdoor amenities, and lease the pads to food truck owners.

"I want to be supportive of improvements in Warrington, but I'm also very supportive of those brick-and-mortar restaurant owners who have huge investments in their businesses," Barry said.

Commissioner Lumon May said his concern is the county making an investment, through its CRA, in what amounts to a private sector business that would not be readily accessible to other residents in poorer neighborhoods.

Oscar's Restaurant on West Cervantes Street. Photo credit: Shannon Nickinson

Robertson added that if a similar food truck park were placed in Brownsville, for example, it would likely for that community's lone large restaurant — Oscar's — to go out of business.

The commissioners' concerns echoed those heard during the recent debate among Pensacola City Council over food trucks. The City Council ultimately voted down an ordinance that would allow food trucks to operate in the downtown area.

Ponson dismisses the arguments that food trucks would hurt local brick-and-mortar restaurants.

"One of the things that bothers me about the downtown Pensacola food truck issue is that people are saying it's ‘just a $60,000 investment’ to get into the food truck business, as if $60,000 is peanuts," Ponson said.

"The food truck operators I've met, they are all in. It's their whole life, and they've invested every penny they have," he said. "They are true entrepreneurs who are trying to do something on their own.

“And in my opinion, anyone that's all in like they are is certainly worth supporting and incubating."

Where Hip Pocket Deli lives on

Despite all the concerns and arguments on both sides of the issue, Underhill noted there is strong evidence a healthy market already exists at that site for food trucks.

That's thanks to George Makris' increasingly popular Hip Pocket Deli food truck.

Makris' self-contained kitchen on wheels serves up its locally famous gyros, subs, salads and other lunch items daily to a steady lunch-time crowd.

On any given day the half-dozen tables there are ringed with local customers, along with many service men and women from Pensacola Naval Air Station.

Underhill sees Makris' food truck as the perfect catalyst for a site that could accommodate nine concrete pads with electrical hook-ups, a covered pavilion and other amenities.

"Yes, I am in favor of the project," Makris said during a busy lunchtime earlier this month. "We've been here about nine months, and business has been great. So, the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned."