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Food Truck Court Proposed For Pine Forest Road In Cantonment
April 25, 2022
Plans are under review for a food truck court in Cantonment.
Kiem Nguyen is seeking approval from the Escambia County Development Review Committee for the food truck park on a vacant Pine Forest Road vacant lot, just north of the Dollar General and the Highway 297A intersection.
The 0.435 lot is about 76 feet wide and 250 feet deep, and is surrounded by the Dollar General to the south, a residence to the north and self storage units to the west.
The application for the food truck park shows 22 x 10 foot and 18 x 10 foot lots for food trucks, a central driveway, tables, benches, bathroom and an “open mic stage” to be located at the rear. The drawing indicates eight total food trucks and parking.
The Development Review Committee held a pre-application meeting on the proposal last week.
NorthEscambia.com photo and graphic, click to enlarge.
Comments
41 Responses to “Food Truck Court Proposed For Pine Forest Road In Cantonment”
Where is the holding pond on these drawings.? And this lot is larger than the one The Domino’s pizza went in on. And to Michelle: 297a is not a stop sign, but they never put up a “this is not a stop” for whatever reason. Nor spikes there. There needs to be an Enter Publix at the red light.so folks quit running from 297a all the way across to the main entrance.
Yes!!!! This community needs this and these food trucks will thrive!
I think it is a great idea, Maybe they will work to connect the back drive of the Dollar general to have entrance and exit on 297A. Would help draw customers to both.
Personally, I love the idea of there being a food truck lot where we can go enjoy some good local food! I also love the idea of there being an open mic stage for us local musicians to showcase our talent! However, the location and layout could be reconsidered. I am not an engineer by any means but I do believe the design could be altered due to potential pedestrian vs MV accidents within the parking lot itself. Maybe parking on an adjacent lot would benefit everyone and still make it enjoyable for the community.
Since most Americans are overweight, especially in this area, majority rules. Bring on the food trucks!
Yummy!
Can you image an area as small as this is
being used as food TRUCK court when
it is not big enough for a legimate fast
food business or apartment complex.
Storage facility fits the bill. Image the
added traffic congestion, noise and
hazards this endeavor creates not to
mention the residential area and other
disadvantages. No positives to this
adventure. Involve the D.O.T in this
proposal.
This idea is just as bad as considering
a ” Round About ” anywhere in Escambia
County in particular the intersection of
Hwy 297A and Pine Forest Road.
LOL, You have the parking in the back side of the lot, driving in and out thru the foot paths of people going and coming by the trucks. Put the food trucks and tables to the back of the lot and parking in the front. DUH! and what about the sanitary part for the trucks?
In the movie Field of Dreams it was said If you build it they will come. In Escambia County’s Field of Trucks if you build it they will complain and then they will come. I wanna complain about the airport, Naval Air Station and train tracks, Navy Federal, grocery stores, churches, etc. Not really.
,
I suggest everyone check out NorthEscambia’s previous articles about Pine Forest having a diverging diamond interchange. Also as mentioned in comments, a possible roundabout planned for 297A area. Changes are coming. Traffic will be much worse once the much need improvements begins. Although a Food Truck Court may be a nice idea, just not sure if the location is a good one.
http://www.northescambia.com/2020/02/what-is-a-diverging-diamond-interchange-fdot-studying-them-for-i-10-exits-at-pine-forest-and-nine-mile
I hope it gets approved. No parks, no entertainment, nothing for families and venues in this area. I live close by and have to take our grandkids to a playground we have to go near the equestrian center. District 5 has grown greatly, and will be growing more. Escambia County can only grow from the corner of nine mile and pine forest to Century. So we need parks, entertainment venues and the like. Why do we have to go to downtown, Destin ,and Alabama for recreation. Our district can offer opportunities for business as well as the tax payers who live there.
This is a bad idea. Traffic is already a problem, don’t need more. Food trucks??? Really? More inspections from the health department on food trucks is something I’m all for! A stage with a mic? Quite sure some folks in Milestone have some choice words on the subject! This is NOT downtown! Find a better place dude.
Just purchased a large stretch of land here ourselves because we did our due diligence to pull future land use permits. You can’t complain about the preapproved zoned areas if you don’t make the time to be involved in your own community and attend the city planning meetings. Everyone complaining about the intersection, feel free to look at the proposed future renovation to that area.
To those of you above that think that you are legally required to stop when making a right turn from 297A onto Pine Forest, you’re wrong and heres why you are wrong:
That intersection USED to have a sign saying right lane does not stop. That intersection also had little spikes when last redone to also indicate it doesn’t stop. Drivers ran those over long ago and then at some point in the last 2 years the sign was removed but that intersection is still engineered as a no stopping lane and the removal of signage doesn’t change its design, so therefore still is. Another way you can tell is how the turn lane is designed it does not come up to the light indicating you should use it with a horizontal line but rather curves directly into the ongoing lane of traffic much like a merge onto an interstate. If drivers would pay attention the road literally shows you what to do but instead we sit everyday honking at dummies who are totally clueless that they have their own lane all the way to 9 mile, or those that don’t care and try to whip into Publix right away (which you can also easily access by just making that turn at the secondary entrance by the bank) I’ve lived here for years it’s not complicated. Maybe If this state required actual driving classes instead of having dummy parents teach their kids to drive only to perpetuate their own ignorance, we could break the cycle of bad drivers in this community.
Escambia County Development Review Committee – There is to be a ROUND ABOUT put in at that intersection from the plans that I have seen. Be sure to review impacts on traffic, local business and residences before making a decision.
My unsolicited advise is: Find a better location with better access, a parking lot that doesn’t require driving between food trucks, add covered picnic tables for rainy or hot days, and get rid of open-mic stages. The Food Truck park in Gulf Breeze called The Eatery is almost excellent.
I hope they are going to put another way to enter and exit besides PF road. The traffic on Pine Forest Road at this time is incredibly chaotic so adding just another business is not helping. Infrastructure before construction would help with the traffic issues that seem to plague Escambia County.
OPEN MIC STAGE. REALLY. Are you kidding me. How about the people who live across the street. Or close by. One big party. What will they want next, a license to sell beer. Let’s see how commisioner Steven Barry votes on this one.
Already largely congested there…… uuuggghh
I like this idea, but I agree the traffic situation there is terrible. This part of Pine Forest needs to be upgraded. There are plenty of issues with turning onto Pine Forest from 297A due to people not turning directly into their lane; people wanting to turn straight into Publix think they need to cut across traffic when they should just wait for the light to change at the intersection to pull directly into their parking lot. For business purposes, this is a great idea as we have seen a huge uptick in food trucks in the area. Just need to take care of the traffic issues first.
What kind of food?
That corner area is already bad for traffic… getting into publix and back out is a nightmare at times. Fix the traffic issues then add more businesses… it takes a long time to come up Pine Forest from I-10 area with all the traffic… there is no time that it isnt congested anymore.. please figure all that out before adding more businesses
Please dont. Wonderful idea HORRIBLE spot. The traffic is already terrible with the Starbucks entrance. We see a wreck almost daily! there is not enough room. Customer parking???? Why not find a location with enough room?
How does this plan into future plans to have a Round-About put in at that intersection by FDOT or Escambia county?
Pine Forest and Hwy 29 need a better connector. Commuters zip between Hwy 29 and Pine Forest via Roberts Road or 9 1/2 mile and make this section of Pine Forest r very congested and dangerous. I see a lot of impatient commuters making dangerous passes around slower cars on this section of Pine Forest. Something needs to change!
They are planning new traffic lights qnd pattern there.
I think it’s a wonderful idea but Pine Forest Rd must be expanded first. Traffic is already a problem and construction with the interstate ramp project is only going to add more to it. Widen the road first and prevent future problems before creating them.
useless… So let me figure this out… So I’m going to drive to Cantonment to eat off a parking lot full of food trucks, most likely listening to a horrible band or someone yaking in a mic the whole time. Or crowd into there for an event to do/listen to pretty much the same… Hard pass… I like my food trucks like I like my women, single and off to themselves.
That is a stoplight at 297A and Pine Forest and if it’s not green when turning south then you are legally obliged to come to a complete stop, it’s a right on red turn, even though there is a dedicated lane. You can be ticketed for failing to come to a complete stop at a red light if you roll through it.
With all of the restaurants and fast food places, why would you want to go there? Novelty? When it fails, it’ll just be another eyesore, like the abandoned business on the southwest side of 297A and Pine Forest.
Great idea!! There will always be traffic and crazy drivers, don’t let that stop us from having some new entertainment/food and support small businesses in our area. This is exciting!
I live just north of this site and, in my opinion, this is not the right location. It can sometimes take me 30 minutes or more to get to the Interstate and it’s only about 3 miles! Traffic is already horrible in that area. We do complain about Starbucks and people who turn from Pine Forest Rd. And isn’t this the area they want to put a Roundabout! That’s also a terrible idea.
LOVE IT!!!!
A right turning lane going South for the food truck area and Dollar General would probably help.
No one complains about the traffic situation getting into Starbucks on Pine Forest Rd. If you had half a brain, drive the entrance on Nine Mile Road and not enter the back of the business. No one complains about the entry and exit for O’Reillys Auto Parts. One way in and the same way out.
The lot is 76 feet wide and plenty of room to have food trucks and a 2 way driveway. If you can do math – then go figure. Hint: 25 feet is plenty of room for cars going both directions in a driveway. It’s not like you’re driving 40 mph in and out.
If you don’t like traffic, then stay home or take another route through neighborhoods.
@ Charlie Odom – the comment: people continue to stop when turning south on Pine Forest from 297a, even though they have their own lane! I totally agree and there needs to be a road sign that states “Do Not Stop – Keep Moving”. Or a sign in their rear window that says “An idiot driving”.
@ Chuck – I agree !
It’s terribly congested right there now and there’s more people moving in and around to 297A and 97 highway has numerous neighborhoods going in trying to get in and out of there, might be bad for the business! There’s accidents right there all the time it’s not about being negative about businesses coming in that’s great I wish they’d put a decent restaurant out this way it’s about the danger of it all!
Amazes me how people will whine about a little increased traffic rather than support local businesses. Truly selfish, it’s not like we live in NYC.
A food court would be nice but not there. Terrible location, like everyone says traffic is so bad right there on that small two lane road.
Look at that top pic and compare the actual size of cars parked (at Dollar General) with the representation of the food trucks. Those food trucks sure look small compared to the real cars parked next door.
Ride by and take a look at that lot. There’s not much room there. Could that be why the property has been for sale for so long.
Ingress and egress? Good luck getting turned around to get back out. But sure, go ahead Escambia County, just keep rubber stamping development and we’ll fix the infrastructure problems later by raising taxes on those of us who’ve already invested in the area.
Personally, I like the idea, but there are idiot problems that need to be addressed first, since people in this area have no clue how to drive. For example: people continue to stop when turning south on Pine Forest from 297a, even though they have their own lane!
While I agree that adding a turn lane into Publix at the 297a light, and into Dollar General will help, The issue is not the road, but the total lack of intelligence in the driving community.
I agree! It’s already a congested area for traffic and I think there would be more and more MVA’s
This proposal would create more traffic in an area that is already congested.
You are kidding, right? There is already an issue with traffic getting in and out of the Dollar General; this will just add to the congestion. Escambia County Zoning did not plan correctly when they omitted a turn lane for the Dollar General whose customers don’t know how to use turn signals.
In my humble opinion as one who travels that section of Pine Forest Road nearly every day, the traffic problem needs to be fixed first. It is obvious that no one on the zoning committee lives in this area and is plagued with backed up traffic going to and coming home from work.