Heading up the stairs at the historic Imperial Hotel, there’s an electricity in the air, a vibe that’s familiar, yet dearly missed in downtown Canton. With several people running around, attending to last minute details for a wedding party that evening, Nathan Lowe emerges from the depths of the enormous, beloved structure on Main Street.

The sticky wicket of food trucks and food carts have taken center stage in Waynesville, with a public debate in full swing on where food trucks should be allowed to set up shop and for how long.

It’s lunchtime in downtown Waynesville. Hungry bellies wander up the sidewalk in search of nourishment. It is the calm before the storm for Julie Katt as she awaits the midday rush. 

“The key thing is the people,” she said. “You have to like to deal with people, to have patience with people, and for us, that’s what it’s all about.”

The debate over when, where and how mobile vendors should be allowed to operate within the town limits has now made its way to Waynesville.

It all started in a boat. “Dan [Elliot], Jon [Bowman] and I were fishing on Wolf Lake,” Doug Weaver said. “And we started kicking around the idea of having our own place, and here we are today.”

Sitting around a desk in the basement of Tipping Point Brewing in Waynesville one recent morning, the trio laughs and reminisces like a band of high school chums at a reunion. They’re longtime friends, and they’ve created something special in this flourishing downtown of arts, small business and culinary delights.

That song — you know that song — came over the stereo and I felt my shoulders relax.

There was little fanfare in 2010 when Mary Earnest opened the Blue Rooster, a Southern diner in a strip mall past its prime.

As the food truck fad filters into counties west of Asheville, local governments are trying to find a fair balance between encouraging entrepreneurship and protecting their brick-and-mortar food establishments.

SEE ALSO: Food trucks offer different flavors

Making mobile vendors more stationary is one way towns have chosen to deal with the new influx of culinary entrepreneurs. As long as they can find a steady flow of customers, the vendors don’t seem to miss the nomadic lifestyle food trucks are accustomed to. Some food truck vendors have hitched their wagons to craft breweries, while others have found a few reliable spots within their county.

Mobile vending is no longer limited to fast food staples like pizza, hamburgers and hotdogs.

What started as a job while in high school turned itself into a lifelong career and passion for Josh Monroe.

“It’s about using the best possible ingredients you can find and being able to let those ingredients shine in every dish,” he said.