Opening delayed for Petaluma’s food truck plaza, ‘The Block’

A speed bump in Petaluma’s permitting process has led to a delay in the construction start date for The Block, the food truck market that was previously slated to open downtown by the end of this year.

Instead, owner Cody Hildreth hopes to have everything up and running by February or March.

When all is said and done, the vacant downtown lot - behind an Auto Zone retailer on East Washington Street, with an entrance on Grey Street - will be transformed into an open-air space where local vendors will park four days a week on a rotating schedule. A bar with 30 beer taps and an Italian soda bar are planned as well, with outdoor seating, live music and fire pits rounding out the atmosphere.

“The city really likes, and is really good about, making sure that everything is perfectly done to code,” Hildreth said. “They just want to make sure every ‘I’ is dotted and every ‘T’ is crossed.”

Hildreth, 29, recently wrapped up the permitting process. As long as winter rains don’t hinder construction, Petalumans should be able to get their fried mac ’n’ cheese ball by March, he indicated.

Hildreth, a Petaluma native, worked as an EMT until his young son, Jackson, was diagnosed with cancer, a scare that made him reconsider his career path. Jackson, now 6, is cancer-free.

“I’ve always been a food-?lover, and I wanted to do something that I love,” he said. “So we thought about it, and I decided to take the plunge.”

After visiting multiple food truck plazas in bigger cities, Hildreth realized that the climate in his hometown was ripe for the business venture. The idea first came to him in 2013, and by summer 2015, he was in talks with the city.

So far, the list of food vendors includes Drums and Crumbs, El Roy’s, The Fig Rig, Cousins Maine Lobster, Firetrail Pizza, TIPS Tri-Tip Trolley, Caribbean Spices, Crossroad Chicken, Croques and Toques, Foodie Farmhouse, Casablanca, The Fabulous Frickle Brothers, Fuel The Food Truck, Q Craft BBQ and Ultra Crepes.

“I was the weird kid who always had the Food Network channel on growing up,” Hildreth said. “I just love food, and from there I wanted to keep it going. So that’s kind of what my main goal is: to help people try new things.”

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 707-521-5205 or christi.warren?@pressdemocrat.com. ?On Twitter @SeaWarren.