National City to consider rules for catering and hosting businesses

National City may soon adopt new rules for pop-up caterers and the businesses that hire them.

Under a proposed ordinance the City Council is scheduled to consider Tuesday, businesses without full food-serve capabilities, such as bars and markets, would be allowed to offer limited food sales on their properties.

To do so legally, they would need to have a Host Facility permit, while caterers would need a Direct-Sales Catering permit, both of which are granted by the county. The caterers would also need to acquire a city business license and ensure their operations do not block parking spaces.

National City has regulations for food sales from food trucks and sidewalk vendors and it also issues permits for temporary events. It hasn’t had rules specific to food vendors who are invited by establishments to sell food to patrons, often out of their parking lots or other outdoor areas of their properties.

In 2016, San Diego County expanded the traditional definition of “catering” from serving food at private events to being able to sell directly to the public.

That year, the county began requiring host facility and direct-sales catering permits to crack down on unsafe food sales. The county Department of Environmental Health conducted a three-month study of 25 catering events at 10 wineries, 13 breweries and two private functions. It found that less than one-half of food servers had access to proper sinks to wash utensils, equipment and food-servers hands.

Host facilities are required to have restrooms, sinks, potable water and adequate power. And direct-sales caterers must follow rules, such as having mechanical refrigeration instead of ice coolers to store food and prepare food at the approved commissary rather than at home.

In an agenda report, National City said that businesses without kitchens turned to outside food sales since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National City Council meeting starts at 6 p.m.