LYNN — The Board of Health voted to ban ice-cream truck operations after 8 p.m. until Labor Day.
The regulation will go into effect Aug. 16, a month after a legal notice was posted in The Item.
Public Health Director Lisa Tobin said she suggested the regulation to the board after hearing several concerns from city councilors who had received constituents’ complaints about noise from the trucks’ music disturbing their household after sunset.
She said they had also received complaints about ice-cream trucks playing their music past 10:30 p.m.
“Certainly nobody is saying you can’t buy ice cream after 8 p.m. You would just need to go to a store to get it,” Tobin said. “I would never want to prevent any child from being able to enjoy some summer deliciousness, right? But it’s just, you’re gonna have to get it a different way.”
During the meeting, members of the board unanimously approved the regulation.
Tobin said the regulation the Board of Health passed is also in line with a Massachusetts General Law passed in 2009 that limits ice-cream truck vendor sales. The law states vendors cannot begin sales until 10 a.m. and must stop sales half an hour after sunset. Statewide, sales have to stop before 10 p.m. in any circumstance.
The law also requires trucks to only play their music while driving and stop the music while vending.
Tobin said that before bringing the regulation to a vote at the Board of Health, she reached out to surrounding communities to inquire how they regulated late-night ice-cream vending. She said the surrounding communities’ public health departments said they do not have regulations because ice-cream vendors are typically not out past 8 p.m.
After Aug. 16, ice-cream trucks that are found violating the regulation will first be issued a warning. Subsequent violations could result in a fine, Tobin said.
“If it was so egregious that it kept happening, it could eventually lead to a suspension of license,” she added. “We’re certainly not looking to put anybody out of business, but we are looking to create some quality of life in the neighborhoods.”
